Redmond’s magical-thinking: spinning standards defeat into victory

If you’ve ever wondered what PR people to earn those big bucks, watch Microsoft's PR machine at work. It is in the process of spinning a major setback into a minor victory for ratification of its proposed OOXML specification as an international standard.

The software giant has been left to draw comfort from the high level of voter turnout by standards aficionados across the globe, rather than applaud the hoped for, speeded up adoption of Office Open XML (OOXML) as an ISO standard.

Microsoft claimed participation in the ISO vote was higher than that for the rival Open Document Format (ODF) or even PDF, which Microsoft is also trying to displace.

With OOXML due for one final vote next February, before getting kicked off the fast-track entirely, it fell to Microsoft's general manger for interoperability and standards, Tim Robertson, to say through gritted teeth: "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."

Microsoft's statement focused on the fact 51 national bodies had participated in the process and that OOXML claimed 74 per cent of qualified votes.

To be ratified, though, OOXML needed two thirds of the national bodies that participated in the proposal to vote "yes" - however, OOXML scored 53 per cent. Ratification also required no more than a quarter cast a "no" vote - OOXML scored 26 per cent.

Calling the vote a milestone in OOXML adoption, Roberson said: "We are extremely delighted to see that 51 ISO members, representing 74 per cent of the qualified votes, have already voiced their support for ISO ratification of Open XML, and that many others have indicated they will support ratification once their comments are resolved in the next phase of the ISO process."

The vote is certainly a milestone - an unwelcome one, which follows months of hardball politics and PR intended to ensure OOXML is ushered through the ISO process.

http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/09/05/microsoft_ooxml_defeat/