As one of the most keenly watched contests in the IT industry of late, the Microsoft backed Open XML versus the IBM-Sun backed ODF had a predictable outcome. After more than fourteen months of rigorous review, Open XML has finally made it as an ISO standard. And with this, Microsoft has managed to score a decisive goal in the contest over the rival ODF faction. Rewinding the events, one can see that the ODF faction had always maintained that a company like Microsoft could not be trusted enough to create a truly open standard compatible with products from its competitors.

On the other hand, Microsoft on its part has been demonstrating Open XMLs interoperability with other technologies. However, the companys efforts to get an ISO standard certification for Open XML could be a part of its strategy to portray its technology as open and compatible, even though cynics may argue that this may be due to forced capitulation.

Microsoft program manager Brian Jones perhaps best sums up the current mood resulting from the approval of Open XML as an international standard is validation of the work Microsoft has put into the technology since falling short in last year's vote. "Now that the voting is over, it's time to move forward and start working together in the ongoing development of these document format standards," Jones commented.

The Outcome
The joint technical committee of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) concluded its formal process recently with 86% of all voting national bodies members supporting the ISO/IEC standardization. This is in stark contrast to the last time when even though 74% of the qualified votes were cast in favor of OOXML, yet it could not become a standard simply because it required 75% positive votes and was unable to garner enough support from the participating members (a tier of members whose vote counts more than others).

With 86% of the voting national bodies supporting ratification, there is overwhelming support for Open XML.This outcome is a clear win for customers, technology providers, and governments that want to choose the format that best meets their needs and have a voice in the evolution of this widely adopted standard, says Tom Robertson, general manager of Interoperability and Standards, Microsoft.

But first, it is important to understand what file formats arefile formats serve as digital containers for documents, allowing users to transfer and open them on multiple computers. In addition, with an ISO approval coming for Open XML, government agencies around the world, in all probability, will rely on Open XML, as many insist on a certifiably open standard to keep their documents preserved and accessible. With accusations of wielding market power and monopolizing the market being hurled at in the past, and the likelihood of doing the same in the standards as well, Microsofts Robertson sought to allay fears of the same happening in case of Open XML. Once formally approved, the company is committed to supporting this specification in our products, and we will continue to work with standards bodies, governments, and the industry to promote greater interoperability and innovation, says Robertson.

However, the ISO ratification has had its share of controversies. Venkatesh Hariharan, co-founder, Open Source Foundation of India, has raised doubts over the entire ISO process. Standards in a crucial area and like document formats impact the everyday lives of all computer users. Therefore, the manner in which OOXML has been pushed through ISO to support the monopolistic aims of a single corporation is a matter of serious concern, Hariharan says. Hariharan alleges that the European Union is already investigating the numerous irregularities on the voting around OOXML, considering that the standards which impact the day-to-day lives should be created in an open, transparent manner. He adds, Unfortunately, the ISO processes around OOXML have been one of the greatest abuses of the standards process that the world has ever witnessed. Indian policy-makers need to take serious action against such abuses in order to safeguard the data that belongs to Indian citizens.

OOXML was originally developed as the Office Open XML specification by Microsoft which was submitted to the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) for transposing into an ECMA standard. Following a process in which the other IT industry players also participated, ECMA International subsequently published the document as ECMA standard 376.

ECMA International then submitted the standard in December 2006 to ISO/IEC JTC 1. All efforts of Microsoft to make Open XML an ISO standard failed to yield result when it did not pass a ballot in September, which led to the follow-on Ballot Resolution Meeting in February this year where, after eliminating redundancies, over 1,000 issues were considered, according to the ISO. Following the BRM, delegates from the participating countries had the option of changing their position from No or Abstain to Yes.

Critical Eyes
With an open standard format for office documents, called Open Document Format (ODF), already an ISO standard, the ODF faction raised doubts over the need for having another standard. The critics of OOXML argued that while ODF came from the open source community, OOXML came from the proprietary software giant, Microsoft. The long and short of it is that the Microsoft version got itself fast-tracked through the ISO process and trumped ODF.

Even though Open XML critics may argue over the need to adopt another standard, one has to look at this whole debate in a dispassionate manner. It needs to be realized that Microsoft is a dominant player in the office software segment, with a huge majority of users already using the Microsoft Office software worldwide. Therefore, a majority of these office documents will need to be able to interface and be accessible by Microsoft Desktop Applications at some point of time. And OOXML is an important standard, with critical implications for the industry as a whole, and, therefore, represents a standard that we need to look at dispassionately to assess its true value and potential impact.

Open XML now joins the ranks of HTML, PDF, and ODF as ISO- and IEC-recognized open document format standards. And this also means that the development of the specification would be done by ISO, which has members from more than 100 countries, and all decisions pertaining to the ongoing maintenance of Open XML would now have to be made by the ISO, says Vijay Kapur, national technology officer, Microsoft India.

Stuti Das
stutid@cybermedia.co.in

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