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March 2008 - Posts

Unification of ODF and Open XML: An army without a general

It is interesting to witness vocal minority who insist Open XML and ODF become the same format. It must cause them terrible heartburn to know that their recommendation comes against the wishes of the ODF Editor. And yes, Rob, this is Mr. Durusau speaking Read More...
Posted Monday, March 24, 2008 5:37 PM by Gray Knowlton | 9 Comments

Bill Gates at the U.S. House of Representatives

Coming on the back of the "Approve" confirmation of the United States national body (guess Bob Sutor couldn't bully them, eh?), it is great to see this video on YouTube . These are the comments by Bill Gates during his testimony to the United States House Read More...
Posted Thursday, March 20, 2008 8:23 PM by Gray Knowlton | 1 Comments

Critical questions for national bodies considering OOXML/DIS 29500

Bob Sutor has emerged from blogging about Second Life to once again attempt to threaten and intimidate national standards bodies. I'd like to call your attention to a few of the questions he's asking about: "Those were the easy and straightforward ones. Read More...
Posted Thursday, March 20, 2008 4:29 PM by Gray Knowlton | 3 Comments

Open Office to support Open XML?

Interesting post here: http://www.oooninja.com/2008/03/openofficeorg-30-new-features.html "Microsoft Office 2007 file format support Microsoft Office 2007 (also called Office Open XML) file formats include .docx, .pptx, and .xlsx. Despite the similarity Read More...
Posted Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:23 PM by Gray Knowlton | 11 Comments
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Ooh’s and Aaah’s for March 19th

Ooh.. (should I say Ouch!): http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2008/03/how_many_defects_remain_answer.html . Once again Rob Weir is defeated (handily). "One of the constant themes over the last year has been the theme of panic. QUICK: You only have one Read More...
Posted Wednesday, March 19, 2008 4:17 PM by Gray Knowlton | 6 Comments
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Shamelessly out of context

I've seen a few comments this week quoting my comments in PC World, and claiming that I have somehow recommended a "no" vote on Open XML. "If individual governments mandate the use of ODF instead of Open XML, Microsoft would adapt. The company would then Read More...
Posted Tuesday, March 18, 2008 7:37 PM by Gray Knowlton | 1 Comments
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St. Patrick’s Day Letter from Chris Capossela

Chris Capossela, SVP at Microsoft (somewhere high in the altitude of my management chain) has published an open letter regarding Open XML . This is another effort to underscore our commitments to openness, the Open XML process, and building the Open XML Read More...
Posted Monday, March 17, 2008 9:09 PM by Gray Knowlton | 3 Comments

Open XML Scorecard for St. Patrick's Day 2008

I used to live in Dublin (on Mount Street, just above Grafton Street)... I spent many, many days in the Oval pub just off O'Connell street, and I remember every one of those days fondly. Spending two St. Patrick's day holidays in front of the St. Patrick's Read More...
Posted Monday, March 17, 2008 6:17 PM by Gray Knowlton | 1 Comments
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“Someone is wrong on the internet”

A great way to wind down for the weekend. This is a wonderful site. Happy Friday! Read More...
Posted Friday, March 14, 2008 5:28 PM by Gray Knowlton | (Comments Off)
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A disappointing surprise from the SFLC

I could make a full time job of tearing down the "say anything we possibly can" approach to Open XML opposition. Seems like we're seeing a new level of arm-flailing and finger pointing, now that we are weeks away from the close of the post BRM period. Read More...
Posted Thursday, March 13, 2008 3:23 PM by Gray Knowlton | 67 Comments
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Within Minutes

I can keep this post nice and short. Patrick Durusau has responded to some pretty harsh accusations from Rob Weir . (I guess I got the answer to my question about the disconnect within the ODF TC .) I guess Nick Tsilas should feel vindicated , at least Read More...
Posted Wednesday, March 12, 2008 9:57 PM by Gray Knowlton | 4 Comments
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On Harmonization: DIN releases early draft of Open XML / ODF Translation report

Picking up on the harmonization topic again , it appears that DIN has published an early draft of their report on translation between the two formats. The report outlines some preliminary findings in the feature differences between the format specs, and Read More...
Posted Wednesday, March 12, 2008 8:36 PM by Gray Knowlton | 0 Comments

Russian Cows and Adolescent Boys

Patrick Durusau has picked up on a thread that I regard as somewhat important (and underplayed) in the Open XML and ODF discussion. Supporting ODF does (should) not require opposing Open XML. There is a growing middle ground of consensus building around Read More...
Posted Monday, March 10, 2008 8:30 AM by Gray Knowlton | 6 Comments
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Silverlight viewer for Open XML

Updated: The Source Code for this tool is now available : Here's an interesting development (anyone for pun-free Fridays?) Intergen , a New Zealand based company , has developed a viewer for Open XML documents. You can get take a look at TextGlow for Read More...
Posted Friday, March 07, 2008 4:04 PM by Gray Knowlton | 7 Comments

ODF Editor Endorses Open XML

"I recommend approval of DIS29500 as an ISO standard."- Patrick Durusau Mr. Patrick Durusau has again commented on Open XML . It is great to see at least part of the ODF camp coming around to consensus on a point which I've been saying for a while (a Read More...
Posted Wednesday, March 05, 2008 3:36 PM by Gray Knowlton | 1 Comments
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What a difference a week makes

While folks were busy at the BRM, I was becoming a new father. My daughter was born on February 29 th , so my week last week was filled with hospital visits, family visits, hugs, tears and very helpful nurses. I'm back now, and it looks like there's no Read More...
Posted Monday, March 03, 2008 3:41 PM by Gray Knowlton | 5 Comments
 
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