News (15)

ODF finally defeats OOXML in document format war?

Microsoft will add native support to Office 2007 for the OpenDocument Format (ODF) instead of OOXML because of compatibility issues — but Microsoft refuses to admit that ODF has won the document format war. Read more »

Final deadline looms in OOXML vote

Lobbying has intensified ahead of Saturday, 29 March, the deadline for Microsoft to convince the world that its Office Open XML (OOXML) specification should be accepted as a formal standard. Read more »

Technocrats rubberneck Microsoft's OOXML

Microsoft's Open Office XML specifications will be scrutinised by government technocrats in Geneva this week to determine if improvements Microsoft has made to it overcome technical problems noted by ISO members last September. Read more »

Microsoft prepares for final OOXML battle

Weeks out from a crucial ISO vote in Geneva on the ratification of Microsoft's proposed Open XML standard, Microsoft is engaged in a last ditch campaign to convince the wider industry that its endeavours are in the best interests of users. Read more »

Is Microsoft rigging OOXML standards vote?

The Free Software Foundation Europe has accused Microsoft of "stuffing the ballot boxes" in a vote designed to establish Office Open XML as a recognised industry standard. Read more »

Office standards battle grinds on

Standards body Ecma International has created a committee to standardise Microsoft Office document formats, handing the software giant a victory in an intensifying struggle over desktop software. Read more »

Microsoft's standardisation move divides experts

Industry observers have expressed concern about Microsoft's decision to submit the file formats for its new Office 12 applications to ECMA International, a European standards body. Read more »

Microsoft supports Chinese document standard

The company will sponsor an open-source project to create converter between Ecma Open XML and Chinese standard as well as new ODF converters. Read more »

Microsoft bends on OpenDocument

Microsoft said it plans to sponsor an open-source project to create software that will convert Office documents to OpenDocument, a rival format gaining ground, particularly among governments. Read more »

Microsoft OOXML becomes an ISO standard

Microsoft's bid to make the Open XML (OOXML) file formats international standards has succeeded, barring any last-minute changes. The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is scheduled to issue the official communique today. Read more »

More Ecma, Government, Open Source News Results

Features (2)

Microsoft's singing in C#

Microsoft and its allies have quietly expanded an effort to gain acceptance for C#, the software giant's competitor to Java and a foundation for its next-generation Internet services. Read more »

Will C# benefit Microsoft, or the industry?

Now that C# has been approved by the ISO, one question looms large: Will Microsoft use its intellectual property rights to make it difficult for developers to comply with the standard? Read more »

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  • Staff Crying, mooning and leaving

    In this week's roundup we see that continuous whining can get results, Linux users get 64-bit Flash and Moonlight previews, the latest in the Yahoo/Microsoft relationship and Senator Conroy ducks and weave in Senate Question Time. Read more »

    -- posted by Staff

  • Brendon Chase Sun eye Web developers with Netbeans 6.5

    Despite the recent employment axe hitting Sun the company has pushed out a new release of its Netbeans open source IDE with an eye to appeal more to Web developers. Read more »

    -- posted by Brendon Chase

  • Renai LeMay BarCamp buzz: Let the hacking continue

    Attending last weekend's BarCamp in Sydney, it was hard to escape the conclusion that a certain "dot-com bust" flavour had seeped into the kool aid previously being drunk by Australia's web 2.0 and early stage start-up sector. Read more »

    -- posted by Renai LeMay

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