Microsoft softens tone in file standards fight
ENT News | at | by Mike
Two senior Microsoft executives on a media tour touting what they say are the company's good-faith efforts to work with competitors and the open source community released an "open letter" on Friday, calling for more choice and flexibility in standard file formats.
Redmond has been battling to ensure the Open XML format native to its Office 2007 product gains equal footing in the standards world with the Open Document Format, which is backed by rival companies such as IBM.
In the letter released Friday, Microsoft execs Tom Robertson and Jean Paoli stress that customers worldwide deserve choice and flexibility in standard file formats. They also paint Microsoft as taking pains to avoid confrontation over standards.