OpenDocument Format Reaches ISO Approval First

The ODF format has gotten approval from the ISO/IEC committee in advance of Microsoft’s Open XML specification.

With adoption of ODF by ISO/IEC now assured, software that implements the standard will now become more attractive to those European and other government purchasers for whom global adoption by ISO/IEC is either desirable, or required. Given the ongoing unhappiness in Europe with Microsoft over what the EU regards as unacceptable bundling and other practices, this may be particularly significant, especially when taken with the desire of many European and other purchasers to use open source products whenever possible. Offerings such as OpenOffice and KOffice therefore should receive a boost in appeal and usage, as well as for-sale versions, such as Sun’s StarOffice and IBM’s Internet-based offering.

Does this really matter? The Sony Betamax format beat standard VHS to the punch too, but we obviously know who the winner was there, even though the Betamax format was of a higher quality.

I’m wondering if the “unhappiness in Europe” is actually from businesses that have regular interactions with other major corporations that obviously have installed Microsoft Office as their core business productivity suite? I’m not saying that the ODF format is inferior or won’t be accepted, I’m just not sure of the real world impact of them getting approval first.

Source: OpenDocument Approved by ISO/IEC Members