International Standards Organization gives its approval to OpenDocument Format

International Standards Organization gives its approval to OpenDocument Format

This is a major victory for the developers of the open source documentation format OpenDocument.

The International Standards Organization has given its stamp of approval to this format and it would give a boost to firms and organizations developing software products challenging the domination of Microsoft’s proprietary office software.

Andrew Updegrove, a partner in the Boston law firm of Gesmer Updegrove said in a statement on this new development: “Given the ongoing unhappiness in Europe with Microsoft over what the EU regards as unacceptable bundling and other practices, this may be particularly significant, especially when taken with the desire of many European and other purchasers to use open source products whenever possible.”

He added: “Offerings such as OpenOffice and Koffice therefore should receive a boost in appeal and usage, as well as for-sale versions, such as Sun’s StarOffice and IBM’s Internet-based offering.”

Microsoft is scheduled to deliver its next major update to its MS Office Suite sometime next year and has petitioned the competing ECMA standards body for approval of its office software.