News (43)

South African government adopts ODF

The South African government said on Tuesday that it is to adopt Open Document Format as its preferred standard for software interoperability. Read more »

OOXML result: Will it matter in Australia?

Microsoft's OOXML document format has accrued enough votes for recognition as an international standard, but one observer believes the change will make little difference to users in Australia. Read more »

Australia abstains on final OOXML vote

Standards Australia has maintained its "abstain" vote on Microsoft's attempt to attain international standard status for its Office Open XML file format. Read more »

Adobe's PDF becomes ISO standard

Adobe Systems' popular portable document format (PDF) has become the latest International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard. 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 »

Despite irregularities, OOXML may clear ISO vote

Early reports indicate that Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) document format appears to have enough votes to be certified an ISO standard but complaints of irregularities and strong-arm tactics are rife. Read more »

OOXML just a Microsoft 'marketing tool'

The developer of XML and a former ISO committee chair have both claimed that Microsoft was interested in having Office Open XML accredited as an international standard in order to forward the company's wider interests. Read more »

Adobe to send PDF to standards group

Adobe Systems expected on Monday in the US to detail plans to submit its Portable Document Format specifications to the International Organization for Standardization, a body of particular importance to governments and large corporations. 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 »

C# gets ISO approval

Microsoft's programming language is set to get ISO approval, which it hopes will help it win over corporations and governments. Read more »

Features (8)

Discuss the impact of ISO 9001 and CMM

ISO 9001 and CMM have similar goals but different methods. Three experts describe what these quality standards mean to the software industry. 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 »

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 »

You say you want a revolution?

Failure to innovate on your part will lead me to innovate with you (by force), without you, in spite of you, in lieu of you Read more »

Microsoft plays open but patent jaws still have teeth

Despite Microsoft's claim it will not sue developers that build free open source software on Microsoft platforms, a caveat leaves a yawning space for its legal teeth to gnash those that commercialise the software. Read more »

Do developers need a professional association?

Read more »

Certification: What's in a name?

The technology industry is awash with certifications at the individual and organisational level, but are these qualifications worth the paper they're printed on? We investigate. Read more »

XML editing from a GUI

eWebEditPro 3.0+XML is a Web-based XML authoring tool that's designed to integrate with content management systems. See how it lets everyday users enter and manipulate XML. Read more »

Blog (1)

PDF to become ISO standard

Chris Duckett [blogs:betaliving] -- Just prior to the Vista launch fest, Adobe is intending for PDF to become an ISO 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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