US delegation to ISO votes in favor of OOXML

A Microsoft technical evangelist and member of the INCITS V1 technical committee reports that after deliberating the many comments raised on Office Open XML's viability, the US contingent has voted to maintain its "Approve" recommendation.

The news reflects just the US' vote on the matter, and not whether the ISO Subcommittee 34 has voted as a whole in favor of adopting OOXML as an international standard.

"We all voted on what to recommend to the INCITS Executive Board for the final US position on DIS 29500," writes V1 member Doug Mahugh this afternoon. "The final outcome: We are recommending that the US maintain its Approve position on DIS 29500."

Chairing the V1 committee is Patrick Durusau, a co-founder of the OASIS standards group and a founder of the competing Open Document Format. On Wednesday, Durusau published an essay on his personal Web site speaking out in favor of OOXML's adoption as a standard, arguing that doing so puts control of the format in the community where it belongs, rather than in the hands of a single company.