Here's a link to the original article. It does not need registration to
read:
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+to+standardize+Office+formats/2100-1012_3-5965443.html?tag=nefd.top
It does seem to be a direct repsonse to both OpenDocument and
OpenOffice.org Odds are it will mostly be used to stall for time while
sales and lobbying teams work the custoemrs and politicians respectively.
The unknown is what MS will do about all the patents it has related to the
upcoming format.
-Lars
Lars Nooden ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Software patents endanger the legal certainty of software.
Keep them out of the EU by writing your MEP, keep the market open.
On Mon, 21 Nov 2005, Louis Suarez-Potts wrote:
Interesting news indeed.
"Martin LaMonica, Staff Writer,
Published: November 21, 2005
Microsoft intends to submit Office file formats to the European standards
body ECMA International, a move the company hopes will allay concerns over
the company's level of control over document formats."
<http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1012_3-5965443.html>
An interesting point:
"As part of its standardization effort, Microsoft will change the license in
an effort to remove "virtually all the barriers" to having developers work
with the file formats."
"Redmonk analyst Stephen O'Grady said that, based on Microsoft's previous
ECMA standardization efforts, it's not clear that Microsoft will relinquish
control of the Office formats to other companies.
"He noted that Microsoft submitted its C# and Common Language Runtime
software to ECM, and both are used by the open-source project Mono. But Mono
"is eyed warily by Microsoft," he said.
'"It's interesting that Microsoft would feel compelled to make this move but
at the end of the day, it's still a format controlled by a single commercial
entity," O'Grady said."
The article is worth reading.
And consider the virtue in being open source.
Ciao,
Louis
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