Redmond stumbles….again

Microsoft's effort to standardize its Open XML document formats through the "fast track" process at the International Organization for Standardization failed in a vote that ended over the weekend, according to people familiar with the voting.

An official word from the ISO on the vote on Open XML is expected later on Tuesday, ISO communications manager Roger Frost said. But according to an industry insider familiar with the results, Open XML failed to get a sufficient number of votes to ratify the document formats through its accelerated fast-track process.

A tally indicates that Open XML did not get the two-thirds majority needed from "participating" members in the ISO, with 17 voting yes and 15 voting no, the insider said. With both classes of voters included, 51 people voted yes, with 18 voting no and 18 abstaining, according to the source.

Microsoft on Tuesday issued a statement saying that 74 percent of participants in the ISO vote "supported" ratification of Open XML.

"This preliminary vote is a milestone for the widespread adoption of the Open XML formats around the world for the benefit of millions of customers. Given how encouraging today's results were, we believe that the final tally in early 2008 will result in the ratification of Open XML as an ISO standard," Tom Robertson, Microsoft's general manager for standards and interoperabilty, said in a statement.

Attorney Andrew Updegrove, a standards expert and supporter of the rival OpenDocument standard, interpreted Microsoft's statement as an "oblique confirmation" that the vote failed to get the necessary votes to be approved.

The closely watched vote, which has been marked by intense lobbying and politicking among Microsoft supporters and rivals, is not the end of the line for the Open XML standards effort, according to people familiar with the process. In the next phase of the process, managers of the Open XML specification will address technical comments that were attached to the votes, Microsoft's Roberton said. That resolution process is expected to happen in March of next year, he said.

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