Report: Open XML ISO Standard Unlikely

Microsoft is fairly likely not to have its Open XML document format accepted as a standard by the ISO, research firm Gartner said in a research note last week.

The reasoning behind this is that the standardization body has already approved the OpenDocument Format (ODF), and would likely not accept two standards.

Gartner also had bright news for ODF, saying that it felt fairly confident that by the beginning of the next decade, half of all governments and a fifth of commercial organizations would use the format to exchange documents.

 

Best Microsoft MCTS Training – Microsoft MCITP Training at Certkingdom.com

 

Microsoft’s Open XML was submitted to the European Computer Manufacturers Association (Ecma) for approval in November of last year. Microsoft had hoped to use this as a prelude to ISO submission, but with ODF’s approval the success of doing so is now unclear.

“Until Massachusetts’ decision, Microsoft seemed to ignore growing support for ODF,” Gartner said. “Microsoft plans to submit its XML format to ISO after Ecma approval. But ISO will not approve multiple XML document formats.”

Gartner recommended that those who could be affected by more widespread use of ODF begin looking for applications that support the format now. However, it said migration to other platforms, while cheaper to acquire, might end up being expensive in the end.

“If you need compatibility with Microsoft Office formats or cannot cost justify a migration, lobby Microsoft to support ODF and look for plug-ins that allow you to open and save ODF files from within Microsoft applications,” the firm suggested.