Groklaw has a nice write up on the concerns of many regarding Microsoft’s “announcement” of support for ODF. While I think Microsoft certainly deserves some credit for moving in the right direction, “the proof is in the pudding”. They’ve not earned any trust and I’m sure this will turn in to some treachery in the long term as well. We’ll see…and here is to hoping that Ray Ozzie can turn Microsoft back into an industry participant.
Frustrations on what the “new” microsoft has wrought with thier complete disregard for process or standards. Gee, sounds a lot like the “old” microsoft to me.
Microsoft launches new open standards, interoperability push
Wow. If this is a legitimate offer, its a huge step in the right direction. They still need to work on making true patent-free open standards, but I’ll take this.
edit: After taking a deeper look, I’m having some doubts. There are real questions that need to be answered by Microsoft if they want to prove they are for real. Otherwise its just another marketing event. RedHat has their take on the whole thing here.
Opening more antitrust investigations is not really the answer. Businesses need to see the value in moving to open standards. Unfortunately, Microsoft and their supporters continue to see this as an “anti-Microsoft” thing, and its not. Its a pro-open standards thing. If Microsoft were to legitimately work with ODF to address their concerns about office formats, I’d be the first one cheering. Instead they chose to attempt to create FUD, stack standards organizations with clueless resellers, and release press releases claiming to support ‘standards’.
What they really offer is simply an over-complicated, non-open format that its own products do not even implement fully and is only designed to keep users locked into its own applications.
Everytime I hear Microsoft talk about ‘standards’, I am reminded of Inigo Montoya’s words: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
ConsortiumInfo.org – EU Opens Two New Investigations Against Microsoft – One Involving OOXML
A great article outlining just a few of the concerns with Microsoft’s attempts to shovel manure down the standards process throat.
OOXML Questions Microsoft Cannot Answer in Geneva | Fanatic Attack
Microsoft taking the world with OOXML? We just don’t know.
