Promise of OOXML Oversight By ISO Falls Through

640 Comments Are Enough for Anyone writes "Microsoft is going back on one of their promises concerning OOXML. While they originally made assurances that the ISO would take control of the standard if it were approved, Microsoft is now reversing that position and keeping near-full control over OOXML with the ECMA. This is significant because the ECMA is the group that originally rubber-stamped OOXML. It seems unlikely that they will force changes to correct problems with the standard. In Microsoft's new plan, the ISO would only be allowed to publish lists of errata and would be unable to make OOXML compatible with existing ISO standards, while the ECMA would be the one to control any new versions of the standard."

Re:Isn't it 'ECMA'?

[Tetsujin]

...not EMCA?

But it's fun to stae and the EMCA...

I long for the day when...

[GeneralEmergency]

...I can read one of these stories and think,

  "Microsoft?? Are they *still* in business?"

Oh well. One can dream.

Why do acronyms ending in A suck these days?

[Deliveranc3]

RIAA,MPAA,CIA, NSA, USA. NBA...

Well that last one's allright if you're drunk enough.

Re:Everyone surprised by this

[Gideon Fubar]

I am. I thought they'd at least wait until they had the 'standard' approved (pushed/bribed through) ISO.. This is almost like them being honest..

Canadian?

[EmbeddedJanitor]

Maybe they get started in Canada, eh?

My brain parsed that as 'eczema'. . .

[mmell]

A dry, irritating condition . . .

so I wasn't that far off-base!

Re:Zonk, you moron

[ameline]

No, it stands for Exceptionally Corrupt Microsoft Apologists. Didn't you get the memo?

Re:Canadian?

[Penguinisto]

Maybe they get started in Canada, eh?

Oh, you mean in CA... (yeah, yeah: "eh?")

/P

Re:Better Idea

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

My unicorn is out back, eating glitter... Terrible. She farts rainbows for a couple days afterwards.

Re:This is a surprise?

[calebt3]

Notice how no Sociology professors seem to be protesting your comment...

Re:Standard?

[Anonymous Coward]

=! != !=

Re:Lemme get this straight...

[Frosty Piss]

I think the proper name that every knowledgeable should use for it is "Microsoft Office XML (MSOXML)", because this is exactly what it is.

MSOXML [google.com]? Isn't that a male baldness [microsoft.com] pharmaceutical?

Re:This is a surprise?

[Anonymous Coward]

You haven't spent much time around ACTUAL two-year olds, have you? They are WAY smarter than most sociology professors. I think you do a disservice to two-year olds, sir.

Re:Lemme get this straight...

[thirdrock68]

It is fundamentally corrupt because it allows every country in the world to have the same voting weight, and the majority of countries in the world are fundamentally corrupt (and easily bribed by Microsoft). Voting must be weighted in some counter-bullshit-country way to avoid this problem. I think a good way to accomplish this is to weigh the votes by country GDP.

The only problem with your suggested solution is that the country with the highest GDP has one of the most corrupt governments in the developed world.

Re:Isn't it 'ECMA'?

[syousef]

Let's go the medly

We want you...
We want you...
We want you...Locked into VISTA and Office too