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The Open Document Format continues to gain ground with governments as the format in which they wish to create important documents, despite Microsoft’s Office format, OOXML, being recognized as an international standard as well.
Microsoft submitted Open Office XML to ECMA and the International Standards Organization and won approval for it in April. OOXML serves as the default format for Microsoft Office 2007 applications.
The ODF Alliance, with Sun Microsystems and IBM as principal backers, announced at the end of December that Germany and Uruguay had joined 14 other national and eight regional governments in requiring ODF, not OOXML, as the format for government documents. The ODF format was standardized by Oasis, an international standards body.
"It comes as no surprise that more governments are now requiring the use of ODF," said Marino Marchich, ODF Alliance managing director. "Governments can be assured they will have access to important documents over many years … with no worries their software provider will discontinue IT support for the format," he added in a prepared statement at the end of 2008.
