Microsoft News Tracker

You may recall that earlier in the month, a variety of Microsoft competitors formed the OpenDocument Format (ODF) Alliance. Apparently not wishing to be outdone, Microsoft and a group of supporters have now formed the Open XML Formats Developer Group. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols at eWeek:

Microsoft is far from done trying to convince people that its OpenXML is an “open” standard that’s every bit as good as the OpenDocument Format.

In its latest moves against ODF, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, speaking at the Microsoft Office System Developers Conference, announced that the company has joined with 39 other organizations to form the Open XML Formats Developer Group.

According to Gates, this group is for organizations that are committed to supporting the Office OpenXML format. The Microsoft-owned site is run by Doug Mahugh, a Microsoft “technical evangelist.”

Microsoft claims that Apple, Intel and numerous Microsoft partners and resellers, such as InterKnowlogy and The Computer Solution Company, have joined the OpenXML group.

The Open XML Formats Developer Group web site has more details, as does the Microsoft press release which touts a number of Office 2007 features for developers including a community technology preview of “the next generation of Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system” (VSTO) based on the next generation of Visual Studio, code-named “Orcas.”