Microsoft is showing that it is willing to bully its way past others to obtain what it wants, no matter how vocally it proclaims cooperation is the watchword.
In Europe, the Office Open XML format has already been approved by the European standards committee, Ecma International. It is possible that Microsoft was thinking the standard could just slide in place here in America.
That has not been the case so far, as the committee known as V1, put into action by the American National Standards Institute, has failed to reach a two-thirds majority on the implementation, which is necessary for implementation. The deadline was today, and although the appearance was given that Microsoft stacked the committee with its own business partners, the original members dissented in large enough numbers that the Microsoft fast track to becoming an ISO standard was blocked.
Microsoft openly states that it believes customers should have choices in standards, yet all moves the company makes are to the contrary, pointing to the Open XML format it developed becoming an ISO standard. The point not easily lost is that once Open XML has any semblance of a standard, the force of Redmond will make it de facto, coming from the ability of Microsoft to force the software that bears that standard upon the public.
With the V1 committee unable to reach consensus, it remains for the members of the International Committee for Information Technology Standards to decide.
[tags] Open XML, Open Document Format, Microsoft, V1, INCITS, Ecma International [/tags]