Bonum Certa Men Certa

OOXML Watch: More Lies, More Deception, and More Spin (It Just Won't Stop!) (Updated)

Rebuttal where one is due

OpenDocument format (ODF) has just gotten a big boost and Bob Sutor welcomes the development by reminding us that ODF is about the future, whereas OOXML is about the past. It's a little slogan that he used several months ago.

ODF was already doing well and now has renewed momentum. Go with it.


Meanwhile, however, the campaign that thrives in spin and deception definitely continues. It's not just the dishonest press release.

OOXML, whose real embodiment is just Microsoft, is now being claimed to have no 'proprietary hooks'. This is akin to 'extensions', but not exactly the same. Guess who is behind this message, which we rebutted several times in the past?

As Australia and various other nations prepare to vote on whether Microsoft's Open Office XML becomes an ISO standard, the Redmond giant is attempting to downplay fears that OOXML adopters will be hooked into the company's technology.


This is wrong for so many reasons. OOXML is incomplete. An OOXML implementation has many extensions, and they are platform dependent too. Remember:

OOXML = Microsoft Office on top of Microsoft Windows

It's as simple as that.

Bill Gates' take on Interoperability is easily illustrated by an old press release. Here is its interpretation and rebuttal:

Bill Gates is wrong here. Most open source software goes hand in hand with interoperability. Why? Open source software is usually written to open industry standards with the GPL. You don't have to buy an expensive license or sign an NDA to get the specifications to be interoperable. There are no restrictions or barriers to entry, except for whats contained in the GPL. Bill's open source statement is just more rhetoric and FUD.

Microsoft is playing catch up with the industry. The industry is tired of bug infested, high cost, security risked proprietary software (Windows and .NET platform). The XML standard is providing the interoperability, not Microsoft.


So, as the above claims seem to indicate, we may be witnessing yet more spin and lies. It has only been a day since the ISO's decision. The lies are nothing new and it has been well documented in this site (just partially, of course). To just give a few examples:



There are many other disturbing factors to consider here. So who are you going to believe? Microsoft? The item on proprietary hooks links to a related item where Microsoft claims that OOXML is more secure than alternatives. Brazil, however, cited OOXML's security problems when it rejected OOXML. Will Microsoft say just about anything to defend a broken specification where some opaque binary enclosures (in-line) are to be considered?

Update: having just taken a quick look at a personal attic of references, the following two items were identified. They throw cold water at Microsoft's claims about proprietary extensions in OOXML.

The first, "Competition Optional", comes from Rob Weir.

In previous posts I have pointed out numerous "features" in OOXML which cannot be implemented by anyone else but Microsoft. These stem from a variety of causes, including elements lacking definition ("lineWrapLikeWord6") to features that are tied to Windows or Office (e.g., Windows Metafiles) to items that are "merely referenced (OLE, digital ink) to items that although featured prominently in Office marketing materials, are curiously not mentioned at all in the OOXML text (scripts, macros, DRM, SharePoint, etc.). When these issues are raised, the typical response from Microsoft has been along the lines of, "Don't worry, these features are optional. You don't need to implement them. They are there for implementations that know what they mean. If you don't understand them, you can ignore them."


There is a lot more about OLE in a previous post. It contains links and snippets from antitrust exhibits. These show that this type of tactic has roots in the past. Warning: 'smoking gun' statements from Microsoft are contained therein.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
 
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025
Brett Wilson LLP Seem to Have Had Only One Litigation Client in 2025, He Was Previously Charged, Just Like the Serial Strangler From Microsoft (Whom They Now Represent)
Karma is superstition, regulators are not
Project 2030 to Cover How "Project 2025"-Styled Anti-Media Zealots From America Targeted Techrights and Tux Machines
The common denominator is also their attacks on women
Brett Wilson LLP Failed to Meet Deadlines Set by Judge 7 Months Earlier, Tried to Ruin Our Holiday, Then Had the Audacity to Ask Us for Over 3,000 Pounds for Its Own Lateness
As a matter of principle we will never respond to assassin while we are on holiday
On Claims That After Bluewashing Red Hat Will Increasingly Become an Indian Company
Discussed this week (long and detailed)
Americans Attacking British Sites Only Months After They Leave America
We find it kind of funny if not ironic that this site, originally an American site, got legal harassment only from Americans and only months after it had moved to the UK
Despite Losing Over a Quarter Million Dollars a Year Software in the Public Interest (SPI) Gives Helping Hand to Libreboot
SPI's financial state depends a lot on its public image or its reputation
Slopwatch: Google Helps Plagiarism and Sends Traffic to Ripoff Artists
That Google as a company helps spamfarms is noteworthy
If You Want to Know the Future, Listen to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Andy Farnell
We're sure the FSF will have plenty of its own output
Links 18/09/2025: A Taliban Ban on Internet Access and Troubled US Job Market
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/09/2025: Computer Literacy and Accessing Alhena's Database
Links for the day
Links 18/09/2025: US War on Media (Truth Banned, Cancel Culture by the Hard Right), NYT Chief Executive Warns Cheeto is Deploying ‘Anti-press Playbook'
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 17, 2025