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As the world's leading open source solutions provider, Red Hat is committed to open standards that are available free from any licensing, royalty payments, or other restrictions, and which are implementable by multiple vendors on multiple platforms. Consequently, Red Hat does not support the approval of Microsoft Office Open XML (OOXML) by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Rather, Red Hat supports the use of OpenDocument Format (ODF), an existing ISO standard format for office applications.
During the initial vote in September, the National Bodies (who are members of ISO) voted not to approve OOXML as a standard. However, they gave Microsoft and ECMA (European Computer Manufacters Association) a chance to resolve the National Bodies' concerns with the documentation. These concerns were issued to Microsoft and ECMA in the form of 3,000 "comments". Microsoft and ECMA submitted their responses to the comments to ISO in January. Some of the comments and the responses were discussed by delegates from the National Bodies during a Ballot Resolution Meeting that ended February 29 in Geneva.
Read about Red Hat's position on ODF v. OOXML or follow our ongoing series in Red Hat Magazine. Red Hat also sponsored a contest for its associates to produce the best photo or video promoting the principles of open standards in document formats. Check out this winning video by Red Hatter Ruth Suehle.
Download this video: [Ogg Theora]