In a post on its internal Google Code blog, Open Source Programs Manager Zaheda Bhorat said that Google Incorporated agrees with the decision of the International Organization for Standardization not to approve the fast track of Microsoft's XML-based file format, OOXML. The ISO voted earlier this month to reject an attempt by Microsoft to use another standards body, Ecma International, to fast track OOXML through the process to become an international standard. The process was riddled with complaints that Microsoft placed people sympathetic to its cause in key voting positions toward the end of the process in an attempt to swing the vote in its favour.
Bhorat notes that Google disapproves of OOXML because it is incompatible with Open Document Format, which is already an ISO standard for XML-based documents. Other reasons Google supports the ISO decision are that the company believes there was not enough time to review the specification: there are undocumented features of OOXML that prevent implementation by other vendors and dependencies on Microsoft proprietary formats and technical defects makes OOXML difficult to fully implement. Bhorat also used the post to stump for ODF, which Google supports in its Web-based office applications. IBM, Sun Microsystems and other Microsoft rivals also are vocal supporters of ODF.
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