Alan Lord wrote:
Robin Laing wrote:
<snip />
On top of this, there is supposed to be about a year of writing and
amending the standard until it is ready. One site I read today asked
if Office 2007 will actually follow the standard once it is finalized?
Indeed. ECMA have yet to issue the final spec that is the result of
February's BRM and what the NBs were actually voting on!
Microsoft do not currently even support ECMA-376 which is the original
version of DIS29500, i.e. before the BRM edits. So they definitely do
not support DIS29500.
There is a BIG caveat on the ISO press release today:
"Subject to there being no formal appeals from ISO/IEC national bodies
in the next two months, the International Standard will accordingly
proceed to publication."
This might be their "get out of jail" clause...
However, you are right in that it will probably take about a year before
there is a formally approved and finalised text for IS29500.
Microsoft have NEVER said they will support/implement it because the
standard is "now under ISO's control" and not theirs. Brian Jones has
said before that they cannot commit to blindly supporting ISO's spec. It
might go in directions they do not wish to follow - or words to that
effect.
This is a very long road and one which I honestly believe Microsoft will
ultimately regret having taken...
Al
I never thought of it as a "get out of jail card" but I guess it could
be a great face saver.
Microsoft has already gotten deeper into EU anti-competition hot water
over this. I read today on the news.com that the EU is going to look
into actions around the voting irregularities. :)
More fines against Microsoft? Can they actually ban Microsoft products?
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9909499-7.html?tag=newsmap
Also, I feel that Microsoft may have backed themselves into a corner
over making this an ISO standard. Part of their reasoning was many
government are demanding ISO standards for documents. If MS doesn't'
meet the ISO standard on their file formats, the governments can still
refuse to use their products. Just think about it, the government
specifies that the documents must be stored in DIS29500 or ISO/IEC 26300
formats. If MS Office doesn't support either one, then it cannot be used.
--
Robin Laing
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