Microsoft joins OpenDocument Group

SOFTWARE GIANT and enthusiastic advocate of its own proprietary standards, Microsoft, has surprised everyone by joining the Open Source OpenDocument Group.

The group is dedicated to the ratification of OpenDocument as an international standard. This is similar to a goal that Microsoft has, only it wants its Open XML to be the international standard.

This has caused many to ponder why Vole has joined "the enemy" and some think that it is all a cunning plan to destroy the OpenDocument standard from within.

A spokesVole denied this, saying that its employee Jim Thatcher has joined the group to get involved in the ISO standardisation of its own file format.

Apparently in order to participate in the future Open XML File Format work, Thatcher needs to have a standing in JTC1 SC 34 - a committee that mirrors INCITS/V1 - which mandates participation over time.

Vole said that it will not be directly involved in the running of the processes of the OpenDocument group and will not try to mess everything up.

More at ZD Asia. µ