Microsoft Announces “Open” XML Formats
In what I imagine follows their typical behavior, Microsoft announced the next version of their office suite will use “open” XML file formats by default. (Typically, at the same time a competitor announces a new product that might take sales away from MS, they’ll respond with a vapourware announcement about something much better that will ship in 1-2 years. After deflating their opponent, the Microsoft product usually never comes to fruition. This is called FUD – create Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt about your competitor, so users will be too scared to try it.)
Stephen O’Grady discusses the announcement on his blog, tecosystems. Many of the responses to his post are very informative as well.