Microsoft's (NASDAQ MSFT) file format XML receives ISO approval

The news from Europe is that XML has been approved by the ISO organization. See "Microsoft Office 2007 file format is approved as ISO standard".

And the real question is -- does this matter? Obviously if you're in the middle of it, it matters, as the article indicates. But for those of us in the printer business, tangentially involved, do we care? The pending battle between PDF and XML drew quite a bit of attention a few years back, with some of us wistfully recalling previous Microsoft/Adobe (NASDAQ ADBE) battles. (See "Observations: Microsoft’s XPS—After All These Years, More Mumbo Jumbo?". That was April 2006 -- wow, I've been doing this awhile!)

While at one point, it seemed there was a high-stakes fight brewing, destined to spill over into our business. But now, are there any real printing or even document management issues involved? Something worth pondering...more to follow.

Comments