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Microsoft Wins Industry Standard Status for Office
Posted by
Zonk
on Fri Dec 08, 2006 03:24 PM
from the bully-for-them dept.
from the bully-for-them dept.
everphilski writes "The International Herald-Tribune reports that Microsoft has won industry standard status for Office. EMCA International, a group of hardware and software makers based in Geneva, approved the MS file formats with only one dissenting vote - IBM. IBM backs the OpenDocument standard, which was approved by the ISO in May of this year." From the article: "Bob Sutor, IBM's vice president for open source and standards, called Microsoft's Office formats technically unwieldy - requiring software developers to absorb 6,000 pages of specifications, compared with 700 pages for OpenDocument. 'The practical effect is the only people who are going to be in a position to implement Microsoft's specifications are Microsoft,' Sutor said."
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Opera CTO Hits Back at Microsoft's Standards Push 246 comments
Michael writes "Opera CTO Håkon Wium Lie hit back today at Microsoft's push to fast track Office Open XML into an ISO standard, in a
blistering article on CNET. He also took a swipe at Open Document Format: 'I'm no fan of either specification. Both are basically memory dumps with angle brackets around them. If forced to choose one, I'd pick the 700-page specification (ODF) over the 6,000-page specification (OOXML). But I think there is a better way.' The better way being the existing universally understood standards of HTML and CSS. Putting this to the test, Håkon has published a book using HTML and CSS."
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Microsoft Wins Industry Standard Status for Office
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Sounds about right (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Sounds about right (Score:5, Informative)
buggy- well, it can't be buggy but it can be so complex that its hard to implement without bugs
bloated- a file format can easily store data in unefficient formats
insecure- hold important data without encryption
unreliable- hold the data in a lossy way
overpriced- Standards don't have to be free, they can charge a license fee (or even refuse to license on a RAND basis)
nonintuitive- Ever tried to decode all the variations of
clunky piece of dog shit- A hard to implement format is easily described as clunky
Re:Sounds about right (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://www.intelligentblogger.com/ | Last Journal: Monday August 27, @11:47AM)
6,000 pages (in what format?) (Score:5, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Wednesday August 15, @03:36PM)
Wow, 6,000 pages to describe an "open" format? Never underestimate the power of committees.
Sutor, IBM's dissenting voter says: "The practical effect is the only people who are going to be in a position to implement Microsoft's specifications are Microsoft." This in the context that the OpenDocument (competing) standard is only 700 pages. Seems like both must be quite verbose, but I'd opt for mastering 700 pages.
6,000 is a lot of pages to master, but it should be freely available for others to interpret, correct? On the other hand, since it is "essence of Microsoft", there's probably lots to misstep with and lots to nuance for interpretation letting Microsoft essentially maintain a proprietary flavor of a supposedly open standard.
Also of note from the article:
Van den Beld might be an idiot. Using his logic we should strike Microsoft Windows XXXXX as the standard for OSes, not.Hopefully there is still some inertia for the OpenDocument (yes, I know it's an ISO Standard) standard to gain purchase and compete. It is largely the emergence and work done with OpenDocument that has pushed Microsoft into the uncomfortable arena of pretending to like open standards.
Re:6,000 pages (in what format?) (Score:5, Funny)
(Last Journal: Tuesday January 16 2007, @10:33AM)
Re:6,000 pages (in what format?) (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem is, if we know anything about Microsoft, even if they're doing it with otherwise decent intentions, they're writing Office-the-software first and Office-the-standard second -- and therefore, there's a significant risk that the standard will always lag the implementation, and since their installed base is so big, the implementation will just win over the standard.
Exactly what was happening on the web for a while when IE's implementation of HTML/CSS could trump the standard to the degree that other vendors had to encode "quirks modes" into their own implementations to deal with people who wrote to the implementation rather than the standard. . .
And I would feel differently about this if it weren't for the fact that MS is bolting an XML format onto an existing product, which means that reverse-compatibility decisions are likely going to be determinative in the engineering.
So it's not the 6,000 pages -- it's the internal memos interpreting the 6,000 pages that we never get to see that are the problem.
Re:6,000 pages (in what format?) (Score:4, Informative)
(http://powerlord.livejournal.com/)
Re:6,000 pages (in what format?) (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://snogglethorpe.googlepages.com/home)
It's pretty clear that ECMA exists mainly as a tool for rich corporations, when they want to add a veneer of respectability to something (and/or subvert government purchasing regulations).
EMCA (Score:3, Interesting)
ECMA (Score:5, Informative)
(http://www.hylobatidae.org/minerva/)
It's ECMA. It even says that in the page you've linked to. And the original article. This Slashdot typo's infectious - it seems to have spread to half the comments posted already...
Re:EMCA (Score:4, Informative)
ECMA have ratified a few standards relating to JavaScript - for instance, ECMA 262 defines the language that JavaScript, JScript, ActionScript and QtScript are implementations of, and the E4X extension that allows XML literals is also an ECMA standard.
Re:EMCA (Score:4, Informative)
Standards for Standards. (Score:5, Funny)
(Last Journal: Tuesday January 16 2007, @10:33AM)
Bias (Score:4, Insightful)
This piece of information is of little use without comparing the supported *features* in both format and their implementation.
Re:Bias (Score:4, Insightful)
But here's the point: by reusing MathML, instead of reinventing the wheel, Open Document also allows existing implementations of that standard to be reused.
The size of Microsoft's spec is a real problem. A Word developer estimates [msdn.com] more than 4 years for a team of 5 (within Microsoft) to implement just the Word portion in Word for Mac. Apparently, that's too much work, so they're just going to "port" the Windows version.
Is a standard with only one, proprietary implementation much use to anyone?
OpenDocument vs. XML (Score:1, Redundant)
It's that or.... um... IBM used like a 6 pt. font for it's entire document!
Just to set things straight... (Score:5, Informative)
(http://randomcoolzip.blogspot.com/)
What's also interesting is that MS will be offering a "bridge" (as a separate download) that enables Office software to read and write ODF (the OpenOffice Open Document Format) files.
Re:Just to set things straight... (Score:5, Funny)
Authentication Error (Score:1)
(http://cheeseburgerbrown.com/ | Last Journal: Tuesday November 06, @02:10PM)
Someone must be confused... (Score:3, Interesting)
Malice, or an incompetent journalist?
Industry Std or approval by one stds body? (Score:2)
(http://www.wemissjerry.org/)
Will it backfire? (Score:2, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Wednesday September 10 2003, @10:12AM)
why are there two standardization groups (Score:4, Insightful)
Industry Standard? (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Tuesday January 16 2007, @10:33AM)
Will Microsoft stick to it? (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://www.puppethead.com/blog/)
Microsoft as a company may decide product features mean more to them than adhering to a standard, even one they created. I'll never forget Microsoft's FORTRAN compiler under MS-DOS described by Microsoft as "a superset of a subset of FORTRAN 77." In other words, whatever they hell they felt like implementing.
One question... (Score:3, Insightful)
(http://loudorangecat.com/)
Then WHY was it approved as a "standard"?
Two more articles on the issue... (Score:2, Interesting)
(http://fsfeurope.org/about/greve/)
...that people might find interesting:
Who cares about pages? (Score:1, Flamebait)
(http://www.tallent.us/)
I'm all for open standards and I'm not a Microsoft fan-boy, but Microsoft's flagship product is Office. Excel kicks OpenOffice's ass around the block still in stability, speed, and features, so I'm comfy with Microsoft knowing what the hell it is doing with the standard.
I create XML Spreadsheets all the time without problems in the applications I manage, and I'm comfortable with what I've read of the newer XML standard in Excel 2007. I'm not happy about everything, particularly the separation of worksheets into separate XML files in the zip package, but overall I'm comfortable that we'll be able to support it well before 2-3 years from now when our clients finally upgrade.
ECMA not EMCA (Score:1)
I think it must be one of those typos from constantly typing DMCA.
In other news.... (Score:5, Funny)
"Actually the Open standard we propose is six thousand pages, but that's only because we printed it in 256 point boldface fonts in order to be handicapped accessible for the visually impaired, you insensitive clod."
Microsoft further countered allegations of being too hard for developers by pointing out,
"If you take away the title information, the table of contents, the index and the pages that say This Page Intentionally Left Blank, all the standards document says is 'Buy a copy of Microsoft Office'. What could be simpler than that?"
OSI is an "industry standard" protocol, too... (Score:2)
(http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3675.html)
I sure don't care (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Monday February 13 2006, @07:11PM)
OK then. Well, since neither of these documents seem to be intended to be read by mortals, I'm personally feeling more than a little "emotionally detached" from these news...
This will make for some slick legal arguments... (Score:3, Insightful)
(http://www.instascreed.com/)
Damn, they're good.
Meaning MS Office docs will have public specs? (Score:2)
(http://slashdot.org/)
I don't expect this to be true. What I expect to be true is the same that has been true for the Windows API. In Win32's API, you can know all the documented functions and features, but could never implement the stuff that's not documented... at least not publicly.
Now would this mean, though, that MS docs will likely be decidedly non-compliant with their own "standards?"
6000 pages (Score:2)
(http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3675.html)
And in other news (Score:2)
iWork? (Score:3, Informative)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Saturday February 05 2005, @03:50AM)
BTW It should be noted that Office essentially uses OLE for its binary document formats. For this reason anything you add to an Office document is essentially an embeded data type. Their XML format is another beast.
The question is ... (Score:2)
Bitch, bitch, bitch...... (Score:2)
Equal number of pages with Open Document = "Microsoft sucks, they copied Open Document."
6000 pages = "Microsoft sucks, the format is too complex for anyone than Microsoft."
Apparently, no matter what they do, Microsoft cant suck enough.
Re:Bitch, bitch, bitch...... (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://integramod.tripod.com/)
MS Office XML sucks badly (Score:4, Informative)
From a practical point of view, OpenDocument already works for interchanging between multiple open source apps.
In addition, Microsoft's file format is patented and Microsoft uses that patent to spread FUD. While the patent probably wouldn't stand, it's an additional reason not to use MS's office formats.
definition of 'standard' (Score:2)
Most people use Office, few use Open Office, why should it becoming the standard really suprise people? When you force standards which few people are already following you get the farce caused by the W3C who are constantly revising and ammending what was an established format so that every browser has a different implementation of the supposed standard and everyone of them has flaws in meeting it.
Whatever. (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Thursday December 09 2004, @11:25PM)
I sincerely hope this does not gain wide adoption (Score:2, Interesting)
If you guessed "Microsoft", you may advance to the head of the class."
http://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/10/leap-back.htm
Tips on writing a "standard":
http://www.robweir.com/blog/index.html [robweir.com]
Problem with MS Word (Score:1)
(http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=17227 | Last Journal: Saturday June 04 2005, @10:55AM)
(In the same way that the OpenOffice's suboptimal support for disabled users means you shouldn't use ODF, that is...)
de facto (Score:3, Insightful)
(http://www.fylo.net/)
MS Office formats have always been a "de facto" standard, meaning they appear to be standards merely because a majority of people use them, and because there is only one implementation of them (regardless of versions). No matter how many industry groups, in this case ECMA, give them a stamp of approval, they will never achieve true "standard" status.
Just because the vast majority of people use something (especially when they have no means to consider alternatives) does not make it a standard. That is textbook "de facto" status.
Standards are what everyone agrees on after open, cooperative discussion. MS simply churns out what they think would be useful, influenced more by their bottom line than by user need. As long as alternative formats exist, are implemented, and are actively used and developed, MS Office formats will never be truly "standard", no matter how lopsided the usage shares are. The patent and IP issues just make this more true.
I'm sure everyone would laugh just as hard if ECMA (or any other group) had declared AIM a standard over Jabber, ICQ, MSN messenger, Yahoo IM, or even IRC (Jabber and IRC being the closest thing to standards among all of them).
There are countless examples of multiple ends to the same means in hardware and software. Which is the standard among SCSI/IDE/SATA? AMD vs Intel? MP3 vs Ogg? Gnome vs KDE? Emacs vs vi? None of them.
MS is incapable of producing a real standard, unlike the *NIX community which has been doing so for decades. I can't think of a single RFC published by MS that has influenced other platforms, meanwhile MS is forced to implement (sometimes badly) such things as TCP/IP and email (among many other).
Calling the MS Office formats a true standard is a meaningless label that can only be explained by MS having bought it. So they put a bright red "ECMA says this is standard" sticker on every box of Office 2007... the average person has no idea what the ECMA is.
Now, Microsoft is... (Score:1)
(http://slashdot.org/journal.pl?op=list&uid=911325 | Last Journal: Saturday November 10, @12:25PM)
...standard compliant.
W A R N I N G
Alert to all Anti-MS Agents!
Argument number 319 is no longer relevent. Switch to plan B, switch to plan B.
Plan B: Explain why Microsoft is still evil and bad. Preach to the choir (slashdot). Place padding under the underside of all desks to prevent injury during sudden knee-jerks.
Above all, do not despair, there are other weak points - try the interface argument that if the Settings menu doesn't provide 300 check boxes and necessitate the use of text editor to edit otherwise inaccessible conf settings, then the app must be meant for a little girl and written by a Microsofty.
It's The License That Kills It (Score:4, Interesting)
(http://www.friendwich.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday November 09 2006, @12:05PM)
No right to create modifications or derivatives of this Specification is granted herein.
There is a separate patent license available to parties interested in implementing software programs that can read and write files that conform to the Specification. This patent license is available at this location: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/format/xmlpate
The link with the actual license to READ and WRITE a file to their specifications is dead. This one works though, http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/xps/xpspatentlic.ms
Some handy excerpts: "Necessary Claims" do not include any claims: (i) that would require a payment of royalties by Microsoft to unaffiliated third parties; (ii) covering any Enabling Technologies that may be necessary to make or use any product incorporating a Licensed Implementation,....
This says to me that they have not indemnified developers from patent time-bombs for the functions one step beyond their proposed standard or other patent time-bombs laid by lesser-known Patent IP firms. Maybe someone with more coding skills can explain if it would be possible to implement a standard without so-called "Enabling Technologies"?
(iii) covering the reading or writing of documents other than XPS Documents, or rendering of XPS Documents in a manner that is different than the rendering allowed by the XML Paper Specification. "Enabling Technologies" means technologies that may be necessary to make or use any product or portion of a product that complies with the XML Paper Specification, but are not expressly set forth"
To me this says Microsoft can come after you if you do something they didn't think of.
I don't see how this benefits any developer outside of a select few.
Specification Weight (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Wednesday October 23 2002, @05:38PM)
While I'm inclined to a cynical view that Microsoft is unnecessarily burdening the specification - and they probably don't mind the fact that this will impede the development of competitors products - I do have to admit the possibility that they are addressing a different criticism that many have made of them in the past.
Namely, that Microsoft specifications are incomplete and/or imprecise (corner cases, etc.).
Albeit verbose, is their specification technically watertight?
Or is it merely, "Here's everything Word can do as a result of development since 1985." with no overal