OpenForum Europe notes the announcement by Microsoft that they intend to support ODF natively and join the OASIS ODF committee.  OpenForum Europe has consistently called for Microsoft to implant ODF into Microsoft Office in native mode as a genuine default option in the standard version.  However, there are concerns as to how this will be effected in practise, in particular how and when this will happen in a reasonable timescale.

This promise by Microsoft implicitly acknowledges the increasing attractiveness of ODF to governments  and the recognition of the value of open standards in the development of genuine multi-vendor interoperability based on native implementations.  It is fervently hoped that this promise will turn out to be genuine and not yet another false dawn.

The DIS 29500 campaigns have highlighted the strength of the Open Standards communities across the globe and in particular the growing attraction of the Open Document Format specification to  Government bodies who do not want their whole future locked into proprietary formats.

The Microsoft  belated intention to join in the standards processes and organisations such as OASIS is cautiously welcomed.  It is hoped that they will be able to collaborate fully in such processes as an equal with the other players and enable the development of genuinely interoperable
multi-vendor software products.   It is hoped that Microsoft will work with
the rest of the community to make ODF a resounding success.

The market looks forward to the early publication of the DIS 29500 specification in a manner which will satisfy quality requirements of sound software engineering.

The timing of this Microsoft announcement is noteworthy.  The ISO process dictates that National Bodies can only submit a challenge within two months of the final vote which took place on 29th March.  The announcement can be seen as an attempt to head off any such challenge by promising to collaborate with the international standards processes.  It can also be seen as a method of heading off the EC investigation onto the whole ISO DIS 29500 process as well as complaints made by BECTA to the European Commission.

The worldwide communities demand that Microsoft would collaborate fully in the development of genuine open standards and multi-vendor software interoperability and permit Governments and others real product choice.



Graham Taylor says:

"This promise by Microsoft highlights the growing strength of governmental support for ODF and genuinely open interoperability standards.  The ODF and Open Standards communities need to strengthen this support across the world to encourage Microsoft to fulfill their promise to implement ODF in native mode and as a genuine default option for users".