ISO votes to reject Microsoft's OOXML as standard
Microsoft Corp. has failed in its attempt to have its Office Open XML document format fast-tracked straight to the status of an international standard by the International Organization for Standardization. — Recommend this story?
Context & Ripple Effects
The rejection caps a rough run for Microsoft's format push: OOXML had already failed to win approval from the US standards body in July, and two days before the vote closed, Wired reported on what it characterized as bullying and bribery aimed at securing national-body yes votes — allegations, unconfirmed, that framed the ballot as a legitimacy fight rather than a technical one.
The breadth of pickup matters here: the ISO's own closure notice ran alongside pointed commentary from Microsoft Watch and All about Microsoft, meaning this is being read publicly as a verdict on Microsoft's process, not just its specification. The company still has a path — resubmission after addressing comments — but the fast-track route it chose to avoid a full review cycle is now closed.
First-order effects
- Microsoft must take OOXML through the slower, full ISO/IEC joint process instead of the one-year fast track it sought, leaving the draft (DIS 29500) unapproved as an international standard right now.
Second-order effects
- Rivals backing ODF gain a procurement argument: governments and enterprises weighing which format to mandate can cite ISO rejection of OOXML while ODF holds approved-standard status.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, national standards bodies become the battleground where vendor-driven specifications are stress-tested, forcing large vendors to budget for multi-country lobbying campaigns as part of any standards strategy — with the process itself now subject to public scrutiny of how votes were won.
The trend: Office document formats are being decided less by technical merit than by contested standards-body politics, as Microsoft's OOXML and the rival ODF camp compete for the international legitimacy that government procurement increasingly requires.