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What happens in v2 of Open XML?

Story: An Interview with Lawrence Rosen Open Source Lawyer - Part IITotal Replies: 1
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gnu_mike

Dec 19, 2005
12:13 PM EST 		I agree this is a big change for MSFT. Thinking long term, however, I'm not sure this is a win for FOSS.

MSFT could stall ODF adoption by implementing Open XML in Office 12. It would take say a year or two before OO and others could implement Open XML. By that time, MSFT has cut off any potential bleeding to ODF and could release Office 13 with a non-standard doc format leaving Open XML behind in the dust. Of course MS Office would be backwards compatible, but that give MSFT 3 years at least to hatch another scheme... Not to mention, MSFT is free to make "tweaks" to its implementation of the standard with updates/security patches...

It's not so much the legality here that concerns me - it's corporate buying behavior which suggests this will never be a win for FOSS.
dcparris

Dec 19, 2005
12:41 PM EST 		I'm not so pessimistic. ODF adoption may progress slowly here in the US, but overseas it is likely to spread rather quickly. I suspect that Microsoft could wind up having to implement ODF in order to do business in other countries - even if only in those versions of their suite. Furthermore, I think ODF has a strong chance to succeed, but it will take IBM, Corel, Sun, and Novell continuing to harp on its advantages.

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