Microsoft votes to support ODF

IN A MISSIVE ENTITLED "Microsoft Votes for Choice," the Redmond Vole said it had backed the addition of ODF to the American National Standards list.

An interoperability Vole, Tom Robertson, said the firm had "listened to our customers, and they have told us they want choice, they want interoperability, they want innovation,"

And the Vole, being a benign beast, decided that meant it should give the ODF a leg-up.

"The American National Standards list does not include a number of document format standards in wide use today, such as PDF, .doc, RTF and HTML. The inclusion of ODF is just the beginning; we expect the list will grow in the future to reflect the choices customers already have in today's marketplace," Robertson added, in the statement.

Should you be in any doubt, Microsoft said it "has been diligent in its promotion of choice for governments and industries throughout the process and has undertaken a number of initiatives in that regard." So that must be true, then.

ANSI oversees the development of standards for products, services, processes and systems in the United States through its InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) group. It also coordinates with international groups such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) so that American products can be used worldwide.

Members of the INCITS executive board include Apple, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, and Sony. Now that's scary. µ