“If there was any doubt left in anyone’s mind that Microsoft
will do everything that it can, and wherever it must, to ensure
that ODF makes the minimum inroads possible into its vastly
profitable Office franchise, the news of the day should put that
doubt to rest. Today, Microsoft announced it’s own interoperability
project to bridge the gap between China’s domestically developed
Uniform Office Format (UOF) and Microsoft’s OOXML. In the
continuing tit for tat battle between the two formats, this
announcement tracks the intent of an already-existing
‘harmonization’ committee, hosted by OASIS, that is exploring
interoperability options between ODF and UOF.“The announcement is, in one sense, no surprise. Microsoft has
been waging a nation-by-nation battle for the hearts and minds of
ISO/IEC JTC1 National Bodies, in an effort to win adoption of OOXML
(now Ecma 376) as a global standard with equal status to ODF (now
ISO 26300)…”