With the non-decision from the ISO standards body last month on whether or not to adopt Microsoft OOXML (Open Office XML) file format as an industry standard and Microsoft"s decision to release the OOXML SDK next month, the discussions over whether or not OOXML is worthy of being a standard is expected to become heated once again.
After Microsoft issued its rendition of OOXML in September it went up for ISO approval but failed. However, it was approved by ECMA (European Computer Manufacturers Association. Although it didn"t get a passing grade from the more prestigious ISO, there were many "comments" suggesting ways to improve the specification.