US state CIO defends ODF plan

17.04.2006

How open are you to including Microsoft's Office Open XML file format as part of the policy, should its submission to Ecma International become a standard? We have not said that the policy will be restricted to only one standard over time. But we care very much that our policy objectives are met by whatever standard is looked at. As to the moves that Microsoft has been making with regard to its own Open XML format, I think there has been progress. The move from legacy formats to XML formats, improved licensing and covenant not-to-sue provisions that apply to these formats, the submission of the format to a standards body, the incorporation of a "save to PDF" -- these truly are positive movements. We are very encouraged by these things, and when a standardization process is complete, we'll look forward to evaluating the situation to see if it meets the policy requirements.