The openXML criticisms has no backing

Summary:

"The openXML criticisms has no backing" says Tom Robertson.

The openXML criticisms has no backing

podmokle 24 Jan 2008 00:10

Tom Robertson found out that the openXML criticisms had no backing.

The press also quotes him: "Interoperability is an issue that we vendors should deal with, not the customers" and added “Interoperability is going to be a feature in a product, which customers demand. It is going to be a standard functionality, just like security.”

They also stress that Microsoft has nothing against ODF, the existing ISO standard for office productivity applications, as the company supports converters. They "don't reall oppose ODF".

Inquirer: Microsoft redies Open XML for global standardisation

Re: The openXML criticisms has no backing

tracking_truth 24 Jan 2008 16:10

One of the highlights of the inquirer article is without doubt the great finish.

Gary Knowlton, group product manager of Microsoft Office, pointed out that openXML has been part of Office 2000.

Great to know that the people saying that there is no backing does not not know a bit about the actual format. How could anyone in the position of product manager miss that that OOXML is not the same XML format that was used in earlier office versions?

If OOXML is approved I think we can expect these guys, when Office2009 arrive, still be saying "it is still the same format" no matter how much Microsoft/ECMA change the format between OOXMl 1.0 and OOXML 2.0. Of course it sort of make sense, quite impossible for Microsoft to get any positive PR if the employee told the truth.

Re: The openXML criticisms has no backing

stegu 24 Jan 2008 22:26

That "Office2000 had OOXML" is a grossly misleading statement indeed. People with such bad grip on facts should not be allowed out in the open to make statements. I guess someone said "Office2003 could save to XML format", and a person less knowledgeable (i.e. a "group product manager") might have misinterpreted that as "Office2003 had OOXML", then later mixed up what version it was and referred to it as "Office2000 had OOXML".

"My tech guys told me wrong, it was not my fault. I have now fired the person responsible for my mistake."

I guess we can expect the OOXML format to be about as stable as the RTF format, i.e. not stable at all but constantly changing with every release, and never really be fully described in any real standard.

Re: The openXML criticisms has no backing

kjeklulf 30 Jan 2008 15:11

Come on, if you bothered to read the next sentence too, you would have discovered that this was obviously a typing error and should say Office 2007. They even mistyped his name (Gray Knowlton is the correct name).

Re: The openXML criticisms has no backing

holloway 24 Jan 2008 21:43

Regarding http://www.noooxml.org/not-for-orient is there a reference to the specification? Is the argument that although urls are unicode they don't reference the RFC? Thanks