OOXML

Will Microsoft Remove DOC Format Support?

January 11, 2011

I noticed a curious argument in Jonathan Corbet’s LWN article “Supporting OOXML in LibreOffice” (behind a pay wall).  Why should we support OOXML? …as has been pointed out in the discussion, Microsoft will, someday, phase out support for its (equally proprietary) DOC format, leaving OOXML as the only real option for document interchange. There appears [...]

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The value of restricting choice

July 27, 2010

The language game Microsoft’s talking points go something like this (summarized in my words): If you adopt ODF instead of OOXML then you “restrict choice”.  Why would you want to do that?  You’re in favor of openness and competition, right?  So naturally, you should favor choice. You can see a hundreds of variations on this [...]

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ISO/IEC JTC1 Revises Directives, Addresses OOXML Abuses

July 7, 2010

On July 1st, 2010 a new set of rules (directives) took effect in ISO/IEC JTC1  including new processing and voting rules for JTC1 Fast Track submissions.  If these rules had been in effect back in 2007, OOXML would have died after its initial ballot. Let’s take a look at some of the specific changes that [...]

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Microsoft Office document corruption: Testing the OOXML claims

February 15, 2010

Summary In this post I take a look at Microsoft’s claims for robust data recovery with their Office Open XML (OOXML) file format.  I show the results of an experiment, where I introduce random errors into documents and observe whether word processors can recover from these errors.  Based on these result, I estimate data recovery [...]

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Asking the right questions about Office 2010′s OOXML support

November 17, 2009

There is more OOXML controversy in the news, this time in Denmark. I don’t claim to understand all the nuances of the accusations, since I don’t read Danish, and Google Translates makes it sound at times like a discussion about loaves of rye bread or something, but the gist of it, as I can surmise [...]

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The Final OOXML Update: Part III

October 27, 2009

This is Part III of an 5-part series on the state of OOXML today. Previous to starting this series, I had not posted about OOXML in over a year. Part I showed how Microsoft, despite their promises that control of OOXML would be handed over to an independent, international committee, have instead stuffed the committee [...]

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The Final OOXML Update: Part II

October 16, 2009

In Part I of this OOXML update, my first post on the topic in over a year, I showed you how Microsoft maintains strong control over the OOXML standard. Despite their earlier promises that control of OOXML would be handed over to an independent, international committee, a look at attendance records reveals that the committee [...]

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The Final OOXML Update: Part I

October 1, 2009

I have not written a blog post on OOXML for well over a year now. My last post on this topic was on August 17th, 2008 and covered the contentious appeals process which followed the DIS 29500 Fast Track ballot. So I hope that one more post, 14 months later, will not seem excessive to [...]

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Where’s Rob?

October 7, 2008

Alex Brown is saddened that I did not attend the JTC1/SC34 Plenary in Korea last week. You can view his photo essay and lament on my absence here. [A] question being asked along the committee corridors by perplexed NB members is whether IBM has withdrawn its staff from participation SC 34. I have no idea, [...]

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Giving the Finger to the DIS 29500 Appellants

August 17, 2008

The news broke on Friday, with the ISO press release, and additional coverage and analysis by Andy Updegrove and on Groklaw. But it would be remiss if I did not share a few details on how, true to form, the end of this DIS 29500 process was botched. First, let’s put this in perspective. We’re [...]

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