The Microsoft Open XML standard is what Microsoft is hoping will be the standard in document formats. The first step in that process is now complete with Office Open XML being accepted as a draft standard by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization. ISO is the world’s largest developer of standards and has no governmental affiliation.
Office 2007 created a stir by omitting the Open Document Format (ODF), which is already an ISO standard. Many had hoped that ODF would help to spark an uptick in the interest of applications such as OpenOffice.org as a replacement for the Microsoft Office Suite of applications. However, the ODF standard has had slow adoption in large part due to the Microsoft omission of it from Office.
If Microsoft’s Open XML format receives ratification from ISO as a standard then it would introduce a pair of rival standards into the document community. In many ways, the non-official standardization of documents around the Microsoft doc format over the past decade has led to an unparalleled ability for organizations to trade information freely. However, many (especially in the open source community) feel that allowing Microsoft to hold all the cards is a dangerous thing and that by bringing about a truly open standard such as ODF there will be more options in the word processing suite that organizations can use.
The battle between ODF and Open XML is likely to rage on for years as the appeals and votes and red tape continue to drag on. Just to put things in perspective, ISO rejected the Open XML proposal in September of 2007 and after a rewrite based on input from vendors and members of ISO it was voted as a draft standard in March. The appeals process doesn’t close until June but we’re likely to see more red tape for awhile given the interests of the parties involved.