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After yearlong battle, Microsoft open document format wins at ISO
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TechTeam on 01 April, 2008 03:37:00
 
Microsoft won an international standards designation for its open document
format, according to a copy of voting results obtained Tuesday, ending a
divisive year-long battle with some of its software rivals before a global
standards-setting organization.
Microsoft's Office Open XML, a format for interchangeable Web documents, was
approved by 24 of 32 countries in a core group of nations in a ballot by the
International Organization for Standardization, according to the results
document. Approval by the Geneva standards-setting body, which is known by its
French acronym, ISO, is almost certain to influence software spending by
governments and large companies.
The tally reverses Microsoft's loss in first-round voting before the full
87-nation panel in September in a process that has been marked on both sides by
heavy-handed lobbying of members of national standards committees, typically
made up of technicians, engineers and bureaucrats.
"With 86 percent of voting national bodies supporting ratification, there is
overwhelming support for Open XML," Tom Robertson, general manager of
Interoperability and Standards at Microsoft, said, calling it a "clear win" for
customers.
In the final round of voting, which ended Saturday, three-quarters of the core
members, including Britain, Japan, Germany and Switzerland, supported
Microsoft's standard, called Ooxml, according to the results document.
Of the 87 total national votes, only 10 opposed the standard: Brazil, Canada,
China, Cuba, Ecuador, India, Iran, New Zealand, South Africa and Venezuela.
Under organization rules, at least 66 percent of core group members must
approve a standard, and no more than 25 percent of all voting nations can oppose
it.
Roger Frost, an ISO spokesman in Geneva, would not confirm on Tuesday whether
Microsoft's format had been designated as meeting the organization's standard,
saying the organization would disclose the vote on Wednesday after informing its
membership. The International Herald Tribune obtained the results from one of
the member delegations contacted by the ISO.
Microsoft's request for so-called fast-track approval of its Ooxml standard in
early 2007 unleashed an intense lobbying campaign by International Business
Machines and Sun Microsystems, which helped develop a rival interchangeable
document format called OpenDocument Format, or ODF.
ODF was the first interchangeable document format to receive ISO approval in
2006, and its backers used the exclusive ISO endorsement to pitch the technology
to governments and large companies. ODF is now being considered for use by 70
nations.
Controversy over the approval process continued into this week.
On Monday, the chairman of an advisory committee to the voting body, Steve
Pepper, asked the ISO to suspend Norway's vote to approve Ooxml until an
internal investigation could take place, saying the ballot cast did not reflect
the interests of his group. "The vast majority of people were against this,"
Pepper said.
Ivar Jachwitz, the deputy managing director of Standards Norway, the country's
national standards organization and the person who ultimately submitted Norway's
"yes" vote for Ooxml, disputed Pepper's assertion that most people involved in
Norway's voting process had opposed Ooxml.
"We had an initial vote back in 2007 of nearly 50 people and the vast majority
were in favor," Jachwitz said. He did acknowledge that 21 members of the group
last week submitted a letter asking for Norway to oppose Ooxml. "Our vote
reflected the majority opinion," Jachwitz said. "I do not see that it was
improper."
Frost said he had received Pepper's complaint, but upon investigation
considered the Norwegian dispute to be an internal matter.
"We have received background information from them and have no reason to
question the validity of their vote," Frost said.
In Malaysia, which abstained on Ooxml, members of the country's voting
delegation barred noninvited Microsoft and IBM employees from participating in
their deliberations. Sweden nullified its support of the standard last year
after one member of its delegation reportedly voted twice.
International Herald Tribune