Microsoft loses key U.S. OpenXML vote


      Microsoft has lost a key vote in its quest to develop an alternative to the Open Document Format standard, backed by the open-source community.
      The executive committee of the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) fell one vote shy of the nine required to approve Microsoft's Open XML standard. It voted 8 to 7 in favor of approval with one abstention, the group announced Thursday.
      The vote is a setback in a long-running battle between Microsoft and those who are seeking to dislodge Microsoft's monopoly hold on the desktop with internationally approved standards for office documents. The battle has pitted Microsoft against open-source backers like Sun and IBM, whose rival ODF (Open Document Format for XML) has gained some support among government users.
      Open XML is the default file format used by Microsoft's Office 2007.
      ODF was approved as an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard last year, a sign that it could gain traction with organizations that give preference to standards-based technology. Continue At Source


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