Microsoft limits XML in Office 2003 | CNET News.com
But analysts contend that WordML’s compliance with industry standards is a misnomer. Because the schema isn’t fully documented, people who want to edit files created in Office 2003 will only be able to do that with Office itself, as before. Text in Office 2003 files stored in XML format might be viewable in other desktop programs, but all document formatting would be lost and most other files would be unreadable.
Such a move could also hamper data exchange with competing desktop productivity software that recognizes XML, such as Corel’s WordPerfect or Sun Microsystems’ StarOffice, say analysts and competitors.
“From the beginning, there was a question whether Microsoft was going to buy in completely to XML,” said Technology Business Research analyst Bob Sutherland. “Microsoft is often trying to spin their message, and they want to appear as if they buy into (open) standards. But they always put in the proprietary hooks somewhere in the final release of the product.”
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“We’ve never believed that Microsoft would truly make their XML format interoperable,” said Gregg Nicholas, a technology manager from Berrien County, Mich. Microsoft’s “standard operating procedure with standards seems to be embrace, extend and exterminate. Despite the hype from their public relations department, I’ve seen no reason to believe that they would act any differently with XML.”
I was really hoping they were getting it at last, that open standards were good, and perhaps they were dominant enough to let other players exist in the same market. Alas, no, it’s the same institutional arrogance we’ve seen for years.