Find out more about Office Open XML standardisation - Expanding the concept of compatibility

Sharing data efficiently is a prime requirement of business success. And to help all IT professionals guarantee high standards of interoperability, we have developed Office Open XML (OOXML), completing the Microsoft Office 2007 product suite.

ECMA* standardised OOXML in December 2006, then submitted it for endorsement as an international standard by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). Using the fast-track procedure, as agreed by the ISO, this will take around six months.

For the latest news on the OOXML situation, please visit the Open XML community website.

* Ecma International, located in Geneva, is a standards organisation of the information industry. Membership is open to companies involved in the production and marketing of computers and communication systems in Europe. The name Ecma International was coined in 1994, when the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) changed its name. The organisation was originally founded in 1961 to standardise computer systems in Europe.

The strengths of Office Open XML

•International standards of interoperability

To meet a vast range of demands on data exchange, Office Open XML has been developed in collaboration with leading companies such as Apple, Barclays Capital, BP, The British Library, Essilor, Intel, Microsoft, NextPage, Novell, Statoil, Toshiba and the US Library of Congress.

•Broad-based backward compatibility

Microsoft understands the global business value of reliable backward compatibility. With the full support of the Microsoft Office tools, Office Open XML uses a ZIP container for packaging XML and other data files. It provides backward-compatibility with your existing data, as well as with billions of archived documents held by the private and public sectors.

•Meeting European definitions of an Open Standard

The ECMA standard proposes Office Open XML as an Open Standard for word-processing documents, presentations and spreadsheets that can be freely implemented by multiple applications and platforms.

Because it is freely available and anyone can implement OOXML, we believe that it meets the European Union definition of an Open Standard.

Find out more about the benefits for the Microsoft Open XML community.

Please have your say in the UK

We understand that there are reservations about approving the Open Standard in some countries and business sectors, and so we would very much appreciate feedback from as many IT specialists as possible on the technical benefits of Open XML.

Get the full picture by downloading the Draft International Standard ISO/IEC 29500 DPC that we submitted for technical review and public comment.

The British Standards Institute [BSI ] technical panel are currently reviewing all comments submitted about the technical benefits of OOXML. A decision will be agreed as a result of this review with regard to the UK ballot response. As soon as this decision has been reached, further information will be posted to the site.

**
**