xml

In OpenDocument Foundation discussion, standards blogger gets skinny on CDF

Andrew Updegrove, an attorney who writes the Standards Blog, talked to representatives from the World Wide Web Consortium this week and found that the Compound Document Format (CDF) is not suitable for Office-style applications.

During the W3C's Technical Plenary Meeting earlier this week, Updegrove spoke to Chris Lilley, the go-to guy on CDF at the W3C. Lilley said the format was not designed for applications like spreadsheets and word processors and that CDF is meant for interoperability between other Web technologies.

The reason Updegrove inquired goes back to a news story, reported first here, and then discussed much on … Read more

Former OpenDocument advocates bolt for W3C standard

When it comes to document standards, it seems that one is never quite good enough.

Adding a twist to a high-stakes conflict over document formats, some advocates for OpenDocument, or ODF, are abandoning the standard in favor of the World Wide Web Consortium's Compound Document Formats standard.

The reason? Technical limitations in sharing ODF files with Microsoft Office applications.

"We can't meet our market requirements with OpenDocument," said Gary Edwards who started the OpenDocument Foundation last year. "The truth is OpenDocument was never designed to meet market requirements."

Edwards and his colleagues started a … Read more

eBook evolution marches on

The publisher Hachette Book Group USA, a member of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), has decided to go with the digital publishing organization's recommended standard for distributing books in digital format.

Starting with its December 2007 launch titles, HBG plans to release its bestsellers in the .epub eBook format, the company announced Friday.

The .epub is an XML file format for reflowable digital books that includes Open Publication Structure (OPS), Open Packaging Format (OPF) and Open Container Format (OCF).

Hachette claims to be the first book publisher in the U.S. to adopt the .epub format. It also … Read more

IBM adds heft to OpenOffice open-source project

IBM said on Monday that it will join the OpenOffice.org project and pledged to further use the open-source software in its own products.

OpenOffice is an open-source alternative to Microsoft's Office desktop applications suite.

IBM will not be offering support for the product to customers. However, it will make technical contributions to the project and use code from the project in its own tools.

Specifically, IBM said that it will have 35 programmers working on the OpenOffice code and it will contribute software to improve the product for people with disabilities--an important feature, particularly to government customers such … Read more

Microsoft stumbles in Open XML standards vote

Update at 9:45 a.m. PT Tuesday: Adds ISO confirmation

Microsoft has failed in its initial effort to standardize its Office document file format.

The company was attempting to standardize its Office Open XML document formats through a "fast track" process at the International Organization for Standardization.

The draft standard "has not achieved the required number of votes" according to a statement issued by the ISO on Tuesday. The voting process ended on Sunday.

A tally indicates that Open XML did not get the two-thirds majority needed from "participating" ISO members.

The closely … Read more

Microsoft Open XML standards vote foments politics, dismay

This Sunday is the deadline for an important standards vote on Microsoft's Open XML file formats, with early reports pointing to an inconclusive result--and a hefty dose of disillusionment with the standards process.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is due to receive votes by Sunday on whether Open XML will be certified as an ISO standard through its fast-track process.

The completion of the vote is a milestone in a process Microsoft began nearly two years ago to make Open XML--the native file formats in Office 2007--international standards. ISO standardization is particularly important with government customers with long-term … Read more

NIST conditionally endorses Microsoft's Open XML in upcoming vote

Update: comments on NIST's voting as well as the other members of the INCITS committee are now public. This post has been expanded below.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is backing Microsoft's effort to certify Office Open XML as an international standard.

The U.S. standards body said on Friday that it has voted to conditionally approve Office Open XML (OOXML) pending some technical concerns in an upcoming standards approval vote.

NIST is part of the committee that will establish the United States' position in a September 3 vote at the International Organization for Standardization (… Read more

Massachusetts sides with Microsoft in document debate

Massachusetts has changed its technology policy to accept a Microsoft-developed document format, Office Open XML, amid fractious industry debate.

The state's Information Technology Division posted on Wednesday a letter outlining its reasons for including Office Open XML within its technical architecture and responded to critics who argued that the move is a step backward from its high-profile standards-based policy.

Two years ago, Massachusetts created a technical architecture based on standards, including those for desktop productivity applications. As the document formats in Microsoft Office were not standard, the state chose the existing standard, OpenDocument format, or ODF.

Since then, however, … Read more

World awaits crucial votes on Microsoft's Open XML

There are two upcoming votes on the fate of Microsoft's Office Open XML, a document format that has brought about bare-knuckle business tactics and fierce philosophical disputes.

Microsoft is in the process of trying to gain standard status at the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, a European standards body which holds significant weight, particularly with government customers.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established a special committee to form the position of the United States in that upcoming ISO vote.

On Monday, the executive board of the ANSI committee, called the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS), … Read more

Microsoft's Open XML hits snag in standards process

Note: an update to this blog includes official comment from Microsoft and comments from a Microsoft employee who attended this same meeting.

A committee formed to devise the United States' position on Microsoft's Open XML document format voted against recommending it as an ISO standard on Friday, according to one participant.

Rob Weir, an IBM employee and advocate of the rival OpenDocument format, on Sunday detailed in his blog the proceedings of a three-hour meeting of the committee, which is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Despite a number of Microsoft partners joining the committee in recent … Read more