“There is nothing preventing Microsoft and others from implementing and supporting the OASIS OpenDocument format. I view the ODF as a format that Microsoft could have, but chose not to – as is their right, to participate in and support. Q: Ok, how about areas where you don’t agree with Alan?Ī: Well, I’d start with the second point of this being an extreme narrowing, which in turn ties back into the possibility of Microsoft supporting or not supporting the ODF within Office. If I was r0ml, I’d likely be able to explain this in the language of financial markets, but as it is I haven’t taken a math class since AP Calc in High School ? So if one can stomach the initial pains associated with such a transition, the longer term prospects are brighter – particularly if the open standards selected allows for more competitive product buying and licensing. But training is a cost component likely to taper off or at least decline over time, as is document reformatting. Microsoft, being near enough to ubiquitous to justify using the term, is familiar to virtualy everyone, while something like (OO.o), is familiar to none (relatively speaking). The longer term outlook, however, is a much different story.Ī: Well, much of the difficulty in transitioning away from Microsoft products in any case – be they office productivity, messaging, or the operating system – is in (re)training.
Migration and training alone are likely to be brutal, costly efforts. Likewise, do I believe that this decision is likely to cost Massachusetts more money? Over the short term, absolutely. Do I find the inclusion of PDF, for example, a trifle odd, as does Matt Asay? Yes, although I believe it’s more from the lack of a credible, open standard alternative than a disrimination against Microsoft as Matt seems to imply. Let’s see if we can parse that a bit – what points, if any, do you see where Alan was coming from?Ī: Well, as I told Alan, there are many areas where we simply will have to agree to disagree, but there are also points I think he has a case.
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He also expressed admiration for the enthusiasm and passion of some notable contributors to our previous discussions ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) in this space – Gary Edwards in particular. He certainly wasn’t “blasting” anyone when I spoke with him. In our 30 minute discussion, Alan and I discussed the decision itself, as well as the lack of support from Microsoft’s for the Open Document format.Īs he was when we last met on the Redmond campus for our Shared Source day, Alan was thoughtful and measured in his commentary – despite the fact that there’s a fairly wide gap in our thinking on the subject. Like CRN’s Paula Rooney, I got the chance to connect with Microsoft’s Alan Yates (GM of Business Strategy for the Information Worker team) for a few minutes, and our conversation more or less mirrored what was reported on there, with the notable exception of the headline. Although I promised you a summary of what I discussed with Microsoft last Friday, much of it’s already been told – if not discussed.