ISO Approves OpenDocument FormatISO Approves OpenDocument Format

The International Standards Organization (ISO) has approved the OpenDocument Format (ODF), giving a boost to firms and organizations opposing Microsoft's proprietary office software.

Voting on the OASIS-supported format was closed earlier in the week.

"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," said Andrew Updegrove, a partner in the Boston law firm of Gesmer Updegrove.

"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."

Updegrove is a supporter of ODF. He made his comments on his blog.

Also hailing the ISO vote was Marino Marcich, executive director of the ODF Alliance, who predicted the vote will serve as "a springboard" for adoption of ODF globally. In a statement, he said: "Approval of the Open Document Format by ISO marks an important milestone in the effort to help governments solve the very real problem of finding a better way to preserve, access, and control their documents now and in the future."

Microsoft, which is scheduled to release its Office 2007 software in the first or second quarter of 2007 has petitioned the competing ECMA standards body for approval of its office software.

Microsoft has said that its competitors unfairly cut it out of the ODF deliberations.

The standards issue was vigorously debated in Massachusetts state IT circles in recent months as a sort of test case on the issue. The state government decided to standardize on ODF, beginning in January, but state officials have said they will look positively at Microsoft's software when the ECMA approves it, which is likely.