Mass. warms to Microsoft Office standard

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Microsoft has no choice but to fight ODF

I know, from reading so many of your posts over the years, that there is not much sense in trying to argue the issue with you if I'm not Microsoft all the way, but I don't see how Microsoft has any choice but to fight ODF, no matter how much, or how little, their proprietary XML format might have to offer. With over 30% of their gross revenue coming from Office, they simply can't support an open format.

On one hand, if Microsoft threw its support to ODF, they could be instrumental in helping to develop and improve the format. In the end, all users would benefit from that approach. On the other hand, if Microsoft did that, then they would also have to reduce the prices of their products, since many customers would no longer have a need to choose anything but free or low-priced Office alternatives. (Tech journalists have been writing about this for years.)

If ODF were universally supported, the issues of compatibility from one product to another disappear, and each manufacturer competes solely on the merits of features and price. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that most users don't require Microsoft Office do get their work done. But document compatibility concerns keep driving them back to Microsoft for the next high-priced upgrade.

Frankly, the situation in Massachusetts stinks, perhaps on both sides. The article here doesn't go into it, but a write-up in Desktop Pipeline indicates that somebody's been digging up dirt on Peter Quinn, and that he may be investigated for his visits to conferences sponsored by IT vendors. His old boss already left office, leaving Quinn with no support to continue on. There's way too much political thrust behind this issue to be a simple matter of disagreement about an administrative decision. Microsoft is a big contributor to political campaigns, I'll bet, and that's something open source projects can't afford to do.

I hope the taxpayers in Massachusetts aren't brain-dead to the ramifications of the state's reversal of their previous decision. God knows, they'll be paying for that decision for years to come.

Posted by: Quiet_Type   Posted on: 11/29/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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