New Zealand OOXML rejection 'not final'

New Zealand has rejected Microsoft's proposal to fast track its Office Open XML document format as an ISO standard, but it may change its vote if certain concerns are addressed.

Grant Thomas, chief operating officer, Standards New Zealand said that a large number of key New Zealand stakeholders opposed publication of the document as an ISO standard in its current format.

"Stakeholders raised several philosophical concerns, and identified technical omissions, errors and inconsistencies within the draft Standard. We believe that voting 'no' with comments allows these issues to be addressed," said Mr Thomas.

A spokesperson for Standards New Zealand declined to clarify exactly what these concerns are, but said New Zealand will be submitting 16 technical comments and recommendations -- which will then allow Microsoft a chance to address these concerns -- to the ISO today.

"If the comments are resolved we will have an opportunity to change New Zealand's vote to 'yes' at a ballot resolution meeting in February 2008," said Mr Thomas.

The US Department of Defense recently rejected a proposal to have the Office Open XML document accepted as a standard under the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS).

It cited concerns with security, backwards compatibility and vendor lock-in. Some members of the Brazilian Technical Standards Organisation also criticised the OOXML format for containing 'proprietary hooks'.

In the event that OOXML is not accepted as a standard by the ISO, Standards New Zealand has recommended OOXML documentation to be accredited as an "ISO/IEC Type 2 Technical Report".

"This is an alternative path should the comments submitted with the 'no' vote be unable to be resolved. Publication as a Technical Report would elevate the status of the document, and bring it into the ISO/IEC family," said Thomas.

Standards Australia decided to abstain from the vote.