HP Slate Too Big e-Book

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer demonstrated Windows 7 running on a prototype HP Tablet computer (referred to as a "slate") at CES 2009. This was used to show the Amazon Kindle for PC e-Book reader software. What stuck me about the demonstration was how clumsy the device was to use . With a screen of about 10 inches screen, the device is too large to hold comfortably in one had and operate with the other. The unit in Mr. Ballmer's hand is wobbling as he operates it. This is too cumbersome for a usable e-Book. As suggested previously, 6 inches is about the largest size for a standard format screen which can be held comfortably in one hand (perhaps 7 inches for a wide screen device).

A lighter device, such as the Amazon Kindle, can be gripped by the edge with one hand, while operated by the other. However, the classic computer tablet design, where the screen extends to the edge and the device weighs too much to hold by the edge anyway, cannot be operated this way. It has to be propped against the body or placed on a surface.

Set Windows 7 for power saving

The posting "The skinny on power management in Windows 7"by Martin LaMonica (CTNET News Green Tech 12 June 2009), claims that Microsoft has made energy efficiency a key design element of Windows 7. But what settings are enabled by default? Many people do not change the settings in their operating system and the default Windows 7 setting could have a significant effect on Australia's overall energy consumption and carbon emissions for the next decade.

In "Windows 7 Energy Efficiency" Microsoft's engineers discuss energy saving opportunities, including that about 40% of the power in a laptop, and new laptop-like small desktops, is consumed by the screen. But what I couldn't find was a clear statement that the power saving options, including setting the screen to go blank be default, would be set by default in the official release of Windows 7. Reasonable defaults would be for the screen to switch off after five minutes of inactivity, the computer to switch to sleep mode after 60 minutes and to hibernate after 3 hours.

Three Dollar Linux Compatible Microsoft Mouse

Harvey Norman are having a half yearly clearance sale, with the Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse reduced from the recommended retail price of $19.95 down to $8. At the same time Microsoft are having a 25% cashback offer on hardware. The redemption is based on the RRP, so you get $5.00 back, resulting in the mouse costing $3.

I was curious as to how Microsoft could run a cashback offer on low value items, such as mice. The way the system works is that you enter the details into a web page, along with your bank account number. The system gives you a redemption number, which you include with a copy of the purchase receipt and send by mail. This way Microsoft doesn't have the expense of sending cheques or of entering the financial details for the bank into their computer. They may not even go to the trouble of checking the redemption numbers. But presumably the details of what was sold by which retailer for how much is of value to them.

Microsoft had a box to check if I wanted details of Microsoft products. I did not check the box and it will be interesting to see if Microsoft can resist the temptation to send me unsolicited junk mail. The Terms and Conditions state: "The Promoter will only use your personal details for marketing purposes outside those described above if you “opt in” to join the mailing list when prompted.".

The mouse works fine under Linux. The box has three logos on the side: one for "Certified for Windows Vista", one for "Mac" and the third labelled "universal". At first I thought this third "Yin Yang" symbol might be a Microsoft euphemism for "Linux", but it turns out this is the Apple logo to indicate compatibility between Mac Power PC and OSX Operating Systems.


pps: The terms a little worryingly also state: "There is a risk that injury or death may result from participating in this part of the competition. ". Hopefully this is about the option of winning a flight in a Strikemaster Jet, and not some fatal flaw in Microsoft mice. ;-)

Microsoft Research on Energy-Efficient Computing

Microsoft is supporting research into Energy-Efficient Computing. I came accross this recently when a collogigue mentioned they had attedned a attended a symposium on Sustainable Design-Make-Serve at Microsoft Research Cambridge.

REDMOND, Wash. — April 28, 2008 — As part of its Sustainable Computing Program, Microsoft Corp. today announced it will support four academic research projects focused on energy efficiency in computing in the areas of datacenter power efficiency, power management and the creation of parallel computing architecture with decreased power demands. ...

The Sustainable Computing Program explores two main areas of research that can have a major impact. The first is the principle of “pay for play,” which is the idea that the power consumed by a computing device should be proportional to the demand placed upon it, lowering the amount of energy consumed at low load and idle. Secondly, energy efficiency, even at peak loads, is equally important in reducing the overall consumption of electricity and should be managed as a first-class resource. The program encourages researchers to use novel approaches in hardware design, software, networking, benchmarking, analysis, virtualization and any other avenue that might provide improvements in the field.

Under the program, a total of $500,000 will be awarded among the four winners. A summary of the winners and descriptions of their projects follows:

•	“Control-Theoretic Power and Performance Management for Green Data Centers”; University of Tennessee; aimed at developing frameworks for integrating power and performance improvements in virtualized datacenters
•	“Building a Building-scale Power Analysis Infrastructure”; Stanford University; for the design and deployment of a dense sensor network for power analysis, producing data for future research on power-aware computing
•	“A Synergistic Approach to Adaptive Power Management”; Harvard University; for the development of a dynamic runtime environment that ensures that power consumption is proportional to the computational demands made on the system
•	“Simulating Low Power x86 Architectures with Sooner, a Phoenix-based Simulation Framework”; University of Oklahoma; for the development of a simulation framework that supports the study of low-power microarchitectures for innovative multicore systems

Microsoft Research is committed to delivering breakthrough innovations in research in the areas of energy efficiency and conservation, weather study and prediction, air pollution and quality, climate change, and hydrology. Other efforts range from sensor networks to assist scientists in understanding global ecological issues by tracking animals, to Web-enabled sensors that could be used in businesses and homes to monitor energy consumption. For example, research with the Berkeley Water Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and National Marine Fisheries Service will use these technologies to help form a “digital” picture of watershed health. ...

From: Microsoft Research Supports Exploration Into Energy-Efficient Computing, April 28, 2008

Australian whole of government Microsoft Software Tender

The Australian Department of Defence has issued a Request for Tender for companies to sell it, and the rest of the federal government, Microsoft software. It is a little odd, that for a RFT about software, a "Weight Limit" has been specified (16 Kilos) and size (0.5m x 0.6 x 1m). It would seem more appropriate to ask for electronic documents with a Mbyte limit. Also it is a shame the Australian Government are not putting this amount of effort into open source software, so agencies would have a choice:

Defence is currentley negotiating its own Microsoft Agreement for software requirements and is also the lead agency for negotiation of a Microsoft Whole Of Government Volume Sourcing Arrangement.

As part of these processes, Microsoft has indicated that it will require the identification of a "Large Account Reseller" (LAR)

The purpose of this RFT is to identify one or more LARs to provide LAR Deliveries. Defence intendes that all Agencies within the Commonwealth of Australia may access any subsequent arrangement/s.

An Industry Brief will be held (details in solicitation documentation). ...

Timeframe for Delivery September 2008 ...

Contact Person Director, Directorate Architecture Projects ...

From: Microsoft Large Account Reseller Deliverables, ATM ID CIOG 431/2008, Department of Defence, 3-Jul-2008

Text of Microsoft's OOXML Presentation

Microsoft's OOXML Presentation was included in the Standards Australia hosted forum on the proposed Draft International Standard ISO/IEC 29500, "Information technology - Office Open XML file format", 9 August 2007 in Sydney. I provided some excerpts and was asked to include the slide presentation. The presentation "The case for a positive vote for Office Open XML Standard (ECMA-376)", has similar content to the Microsoft OOXML web site. So rather than clog up the web with another slide show, I have just provided the text, without the graphics (available from the web site):

The case for a positive vote for Office Open XML Standard (ECMA-376)

Scope

• Not here to discuss JTC-1 process
  • Not here to debate minute technical details
• All specs have issues - resolved via process
• This is not a competing standard-just as ODF and PDF don't compete
• Question is: Does this spec have significant value for the Australian economy and citizenry?

The vote we are casting…

• We are deciding, is Ecma-376 a fair representation of the OpenXML file format?
• Will it bring clear benefits to consumers of software in Australia?
• Do we want to grant access to the data that Australian citizens and businesses currently hold in binary Office formats?
• Getting Aust government and business involved in future development of Ecma-376, ISO DIS29500.

Respecting EU / IDABC Recommendations

• European Union (IDABC)
  http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/2592/5588

  "The use of open document formats, such as WordML, improves interoperability"

  "Microsoft should consider the merits of submitting XML formats to an international standards body of their choice"

Why OXML too?

ODF design goal - from the actual spec itself:

1. This document defines an XML schema for office applications and its semantics. The schema is suitable for office documents, including text documents, spreadsheets, charts and graphical documents like drawings or presentations, but is not restricted to these kinds of documents.
2. The schema provides for high-level information suitable for editing documents. It defines suitable XML structures for office documents and is friendly to transformations using XSLT or similar XML-based tools.

Why OXML too?

OXML design goal-from the ECMA spec

1. This Part is one piece of a Standard that describes a family of XML schemas, collectively called Office Open XML, which define the XML vocabularies for word-processing, spreadsheet, and presentation documents, as well as the packaging of documents that conform to these schemas.

2. Here is where OpenXML differs radically in its design goals from other formats:

   The goal is to enable the implementation of the Office Open XML formats by the widest set of tools and platforms, fostering interoperability across office productivity applications and line-of business systems, as well as to support and strengthen document archival and preservation, all in a way that is fully compatible with the large existing investments in Microsoft Office documents.

Multiple standard precedents

• Multiple standards for general purpose programming languages (C, C++, C#, FORTRAN, LISP, Eiffel, Pascal, etc
• Multiple standards for XML schema languages (SGML DTDs, RELAX NG, Schematron, Namespaceaware, DTDS, etc.), -have the same use.
• standards for both the POSIX ABI and Linux ABI; both have the same use

Office Open XML Formats

• Mature (>20 years) deep, broad set of characteristics used by billions of documents and millions of users - XML design and translation started 9 years ago
• Designed to represent all information of .doc, .ppt, .xls in XML
  • 100% compatibility with .doc, .ppt, .xls
  • All format characteristics, styles, content, options in binary formats represented in open XML formats
  • Default format for Microsoft Office from now on
• Billions of existing documents to be converted to XML
  • Free add-ons for past versions
  • Default file format for Office 2007
  • Bulk converters for documents

The Document Type Spectrum

ODF

Narrative Transactional

OXML

The Role of XML with Documents

Demanding Interoperability

Evolving Document-centric Customer Needs

Scenario	Example
Document Assembly Server-based or user-assisted construction of documents from archived content or database content	Create sales reports from financial and forecast data stored in a CRM system
Content Reuse Much easier to move content between documents, including different document types	Apply content stored in Word documents to Web pages quickly and efficiently
Content Tagging Add domain-specific metadata to document content to enable custom solutions	Tag presentations using a specific taxonomy to improve knowledge management efficiency
Document Interrogation Query document repositories based on custom data, content types or document metadata	Search for all documents containing a specific company name or sales contact
Document Sanitization Remove unwanted content like comments or embedded code from your document when appropriate	Remove all tracked changes and comments from a Word document before it is published

OpenXML-Custom Schema Support

Traditional document capabilities:

Facilitating a publishing process - Authoring, collaborating, sharing, printing etc

The new direction for documents:

Facilitating person-process interoperability

interoperabilityLinking user’s publishing activities and structured business data as part of business process – all in one XML document.

Example: XBRL and Open XML

User works on document with structured data from a back end system - document to update the system - all within a familiar Office environment.

Broad Industry support for OpenXML

Windows:

• Altsoft XML2PDF server 2007
• AltViewer documents preview
• Altova XML
• Spy Corel Office
• Create Word 2007 documents without Word installed
• doxc to RTF
• Madcap Flare
• Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP and Office 2003
• Microsoft Office 2007
• Mindjet's MindManager
• Monarch V.9.0 from Datawatch
• ODF-Converter
• OOX-UOF Converter
• Open ERP Software
• Open XML Translator
• Open XML translator for OpenOffice (for Linux and Windows Versions of OpenOffice.org)
• Open XML Writer PythonOffice (Python API to read and write Excel XML documents from within Python programming language)
• Sourceforge Project to allow .NET(C#) developer to have component that will interact with Open Xml file
• Special Templates for Master Thesis
• Word 2007 Map Editor for Mindjet MindManager
• Xpertdoc Studio 2007 reporting solution

Mac OS X:

• DOCX convertor for the Mac
• docx to html Konverter
• doxc to RTF Konverter
• MacLinkPlus Deluxe version 16 by DataViz
• Microsoft Office 2008
• Neo Office 2.1
• Sun Open XML import filter for spreadsheets
• Word Counter 2.2.1
• Apple iPhone

Linux:

• Gnumeric - open source Spreadsheet
• Open Office ..Novell edition
• Open XML translator for OpenOffice (for Linux and Windows Versions of OpenOffice.org)

Other Operating systems or Operating System independent:

• Docx2Doc Web Service
• DOCX convertor on Palm handheld devices
• OpenXML4J - Open XML framework for Java
• OpenXMLDeveloper.org (hundred of developers, multiple platforms)
• PHPExcel - Web Development (PHP)
• WebService with mailing of Document, docx to HTML
• Word 2007 file(docx) construction using Java

Change Creates Challenges

• An immense wealth of information is written in existing Microsoft Office formats
• Millions of users created Billions of documents over the past 20 years

Migration to XML could be damaging if not undertaken with due care for the practical reality

• Users mandate backward compatibility with existing documents and products
• Anything less could be massively disruptive to users and risk unacceptable loss of content

Migration to XML should not compromise performance or potential functionality

We have some precedents...

Path to ISO:

Open XML: Microsoft -> Ecma-> ISO (via fast track: FAST TRACK)

ODF: SUN -> OASIS -> ISO (via fast track: PAS)

IP:

Open XML: : Microsoft -> OSP and CNS

ODF: SUN -> OpenDocument Patent Statement

Voting "YES" with comments:

Open XML: Tech issues raised through ballot -> BRM

ODF: Tech Issues raised by 8 countries

Office Open XML Cosponsors

• Apple
• Barclays Capital
BP British Library Essilor Intel Corporation Microsoft Corporation NextPage Inc. Novell Statoil ASA Toshiba The US Library of Congress

List of Applications with Office Open XML

Windows:

• Altsoft XML2PDF server 2007
• AltViewer documents preview
• Altova XML Spy
• Corel Office
• Create Word 2007 documents without Word installed
• doxc to RTF
• Madcap Flare
• Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP and Office 2003
• Microsoft Office 2007
• Mindjet's MindManager
• Monarch V.9.0 from Datawatch
• ODF-Converter
• OOX-UOF Converter
• Open ERP Software
• Open XML Translator
• Open XML translator for OpenOffice (for Linux and Windows Versions of OpenOffice.org)
• Open XML Writer
• PythonOffice (Python API to read and write Excel XML documents from within Python programming language)
• Sourceforge Project to allow .NET(C#) developer to have component that will interact with Open Xml file
• Special Templates for Master Thesis
• Word 2007 Map Editor for Mindjet MindManager
• Xpertdoc Studio 2007 reporting solution

Mac OS X:

• DOCX convertor for the Mac
• docx to html Konverter
• doxc to RTF Konverter
• MacLinkPlus Deluxe version 16 by DataViz
• Microsoft Office 2008
• Neo Office 2.1
• Sun Open XML import filter for spreadsheets
• Word Counter 2.2.1

Linux:

• Gnumeric - open source Spreadsheet
• Open Office ..Novell edition
• Open XML translator for OpenOffice (for Linux and Windows Versions of OpenOffice.org)

Other Operating systems or Operating System independent:

• Docx2Doc Web Service
• DOCX convertor on Palm handheld devices
• OpenXML4J - Open XML framework for Java
• OpenXMLDeveloper.org (hundred of developers, multiple platforms)
• PHPExcel - Web Development (PHP)
• WebService with mailing of Document, docx to HTML
• Word 2007 file(docx) construction using Java

The Path to Standardisation

• Documentation prepared by Microsoft and submitted to Ecma, based upon the Office 2007 file format and well documented customer requirements.
  • Need for backward compatibility and fidelity with billions of existing documents
  • Need for the file format to fully represent the features of the Microsoft office platform as a starting point
  • Ability to use the file format as a developer tool, enabling new types of data led applications
• Entities within Ecma worked on the standard, requesting and adding much more information;
  • Including… Apple, Barclays Capital, BP, The British Library, Essilor, Intel, Microsoft, NextPage, Novell, Statoil, Toshiba, and the United States Library of Congress
• Ratified as Ecma-376, a global published standard in December'06.
• Submitted to ISO for approval as DIS 29500
  • Contradiction period (looking at the role of this standard and the overlap with other existing standards) - approved to progress to a technical ballot
  • Approval by country ISO committees based upon technical merits of the standard
    • Yes (with or without comments)
    • Abstain
    • No (with comments, and suggest resolutions)
  • Ballot resolution meeting is the next stage, where those voting no, or simply wanting to discuss comments are invited to meet in person and resolve any outstanding issues in the spirit of positive collaboration.

The Evolution of ECMA 376

2005: ECMA International starts work on Office Open XML
• Founding members of ECMA TC 45:
  • Apple, Barclays Capital, BP, The British Library, Essilor, Intel Corporation, Microsoft, NextPage Inc., Statoil ASA, Toshiba
• Goal of ECMA TC 45:
  • create ECMA Office Open XML Format standard
  • contribute ECMA Office Open XML Format standard to ISO/IEC JTC 1 for approval and adoption by ISO and IEC
  • To steward future evolution of Office Open XML
• Open process
  • Technical Committee open to any ECMA member. Novell, US Library of Congress joined TC45 after creation
• Initial draft, about 2.000 Pages
• Work Progress/Transparency:
  • Weekly conference calls
  • Meeting regularly
  • Initial and Interim drafts posted publicly on ECMA web site
  • External feedback - SC34 experts, others
• 7. December 2006: ECMA General Assembly
  • Overwhelming positive vote
  • Approval to Submit to ISO Final
• Standard about 6.000 Pages (through changes and supplements in TC45)

SourceForge ODF Converter

• Microsoft is funding and providing architectural guidance to build ODF plug-in
• Set of open source tools on SourceForge under a BSD license
• Read and "save as" functionality of ODF in Office 2007 and previous versions (via compatibility pack)
• Tested for EU Document conformance
  • Eg. round-trip interoperability with a translation bureau working with ODF

Peaceful Coexistence

• ODF Converter for Microsoft Office
  • http://sourceforge.net/projects/odfconverter
• Open XML support for OpenOffice.org released by Novell
  • http://download.novell.com/Summar yFree.jsp?buildid=ESrjfdE4U58~
• Gnumeric spreadsheet software supports OpenXML
• Next version of Corel WordPerfect will support both Open XML and ODF (Mid 2007)
  • http://www.networkworld.com/news /2006/112906-corel-odf.html

Improving current position:

• Already in market:
  • growing base of users - Windows/non-windows
  • Massachusetts now endorses OpenXML
• Gaining ISO standard benefits all those users.
• Co-existence of format already:
  • Translator projects building a technical bridge between Open XML : ODF
  • Operational support for binary->XML (Office Migration Planning Manager)
  
  

Text of Rob Weir's OOXML Presentation

Rob Weir's OOXML Presentation was included in the Standards Australia hosted forum on the proposed Draft International Standard ISO/IEC 29500, "Information technology - Office Open XML file format", 9 August 2007 in Sydney. I provided some excerpts and was asked to include the slide presentation. The presentation "Some Thoughts Concerning DIS 29500 “OOXML" by Rob Weir, IBM, has similar content to his Blog. So rather than clog up the web with another slide show, I have just provided the text, without the graphics (available from his blog):

Some Thoughts Concerning DIS 29500 "OOXML"

Rob Weir
IBM
robert_weir(a)us.ibm.com
http://www.robweir.com/blog

(c) 2007 IBM Corporation

What is a Standard?

"[A] document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context

NOTE Standards should be based on the consolidated results of science, technology and experience, and aimed at the promotion of optimum community benefits."

-- ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004, Definition 3.2

FastTrack V Ecma's "value"

OOXML: a rushed standard

The technical case against DIS 29500 / OOXML

OOXML does not satisfy the criteria commonly used to define standards :

Standards should be repeatable, optimal/best practices and interoperable
Ref. ISO, British Standards Institute, ISO/IEC JTC1 Directives

1. NOT Precise, Repeatable, Common

"Compatibility Settings" of WordProcessingML, such as "autoSpaceLikeWord95", do not provide for repeatable practices. Many other properties are undefined.

2. NOT aspirational and a consolidation of best practices

Very little use of the consolidated best practices of the industry such as XForms, Xlink, SMIL and MathML

3. NOT Interoperable and Portable

Heavily tied to Microsoft Office applications and Windows, to the detriment of interoperability and portability. Example: clipboard only supports Microsoft formats, such as EMF, and WMF. Supports Internet Explorer, but not Firefox, Opera or Safari.

4. LACKS Cultural and Linguistic Adaptability

Example: NETWORKDAYS() defines a weekend in a way that will be improper in most parts of the Middle East.

Recommendations

• Vote "No, with comments," which is the JTC1-prescribed way of indicating "conditional approval" (JTC1 Directives, Section 9.8)
• Recommend that OOXML be resubmitted as normal working item in JTC1/SC34: V Split into a multi part standard: WordProcessingML, SpreadsheetML, DrawingML, Office Open Math Markup, VML, etc. V Have each part progress independently, at its own speed, within normal ISO processing stages V Encourage participation from OASIS to identify opportunities for harmonization with existing ISO 26300 "ODF"
• OOXML, as the default format in MS Office, is important. But as a standard it is full of inconsistencies, omissions, inaccuracies and errors. No standard is perfect, but OOXML, in its current state, does even not meet the minimum requirements.

Comments to Standards Australia on OOXML

Here are the comments I submitted to Standards Australia on the proposed Draft International Standard ISO/IEC 29500, "Information technology - Office Open XML file format". Please note that these comment are as an individual IT professional and do not necessarily represent the views of any organization I may be associated with:

The British Standards Institute have taken the innovative step of using a Wiki to help prepare input on how the UK should vote on ISO ballot on Office Open XML/OOXML ( DIS 29500). There is a set of very carefully prepared detailed UK comments on the draft standard.

The UK comments typically are suggesting that proprietary and obsolete Microsoft features in the standard be replaced with non-proprietary and more up to date ones. An example is to replace an old hash algorithm from Excell with a more robust one.

The comments get a little cheeky at times, such as suggesting a "doWrongDateCalculationsLikeExcel" tag. But as far as I can see these changes are feasible and would make the standard better at the cost of causing some minor inconvenience to Microsoft. However, if OOXML needs changes to make it suitable as an international standard, then its major feature (compatibility with Microsoft Office) is lost.

There is already an XML based international standard for office document formats: OpenDocument ISO/IEC 26300:2006. ODF has similar functionality to the proposed OOXML.

There is work already underway to provide translation between OOXML and ODF. When such a translation available, Microsoft Office users can then use the existing international standard format. There would therefore be no need top adopt OOXML as an international standard.

Both OOXML and ODF are derived from existing legacy proprietary software packages: OOXML from Microsoft Office and ODF from Sun Star Office (later adopted for OpenOffice.Org). ODF is based on newer software and so has fewer quirks. Both are based on XML formats, but neither is directly compatible with web browsers or other web software.

A better approach would be to base the word processor, which is the most used part of the office document format, on a modern web XML standards, such as XHTML 2. Work on the Integrated Content Environment (ICE), Digital Scholar's Workbench and ACS Digital Library show some of the possibilities. Have shown the feasibility of this for word processing documents and to a limited extent with presentations.

The way offices work and use documents is changing. The idea of a static monolithic document, which is a facsimile of a printed document is changing. Documents are becoming collections of links to data at different locations. Traditional office formats will not be usable in this environment. Work on modular document formats, incorporating techniques such as Microformats will allow more flexible documents. These can then incorporate new ways of working, such as social networking.

From: Message to Standards Australia, Tom Worthington 21 August 2007.

Notes from OOXML Standards Forum

Standards Australia hosted a forum on the proposed Draft International Standard ISO/IEC 29500, "Information technology - Office Open XML file format" on 9 August 2007 in Sydney. The notes from the event have been circulated by SA. With more than a little irony, the document was circulated as a Microsoft Word document (".DOC") embedded in a Microsoft Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (".DAT"). For those who did not receive the message, or were unable to read it due to the formats used, here are some excerpts:

Draft International Standard (DIS), ISO/IEC 29500
Information technology — Office Open XML file formats

9 August 2007
Standards Australia, 20 Bridge St, Sydney

Introduction

Alistair Tegart (Standards Australia Program Manager, Forum Chair), opened the forum at 10am and welcomed the participants to the Standards Australia ad-hoc forum on ISO/IEC 29500 Information technology — Office Open XML file formats. The purpose of this meeting was to provide a forum for discussion by interested parties to advise Standards Australia in the development of its submission for approval by the Communications IT & eCommerce (CITeC) Standards Sector Board. Invitees to this meeting included industry, government, academic and other interested parties.

Alistair Tegart outlined the aim of the forum, which was to gather information and explore creative ways to provide a uniquely Australian consensus position. Standards Australia will utilise the forum as one of the mechanisms to formulate a recommendation to the CITeC Sector Board. He also outlined the process that needs to be followed for providing written comments by 21 August 2007. The Standards Australia CITeC Sector Board will consider all the feedback and comments received when formulating a submission and position which will be forwarded to ISO/IEC JTC 1.

Background

The European Computer Manufactures' Association International (ECMA International) adopted and published the Microsoft Open Office XML specification as ECMA 376 late in 2006. ECMA approached ISO/IEC JTC1, the international standards organisation for information technology, seeking to use the fast track process to elevate its standard to an International Standard status late in 2006. The JTC1 enquiry process opened on 1 January 2007, for a 30 day period.

In accordance with the JTC1 Directives (their process rules) Member countries were asked to list any apparent contradictions with existing standards (including ISO/IEC 26300: Information technology - Open Document Format for Office Applications. Some 19 countries did this, including Australia. The Standards Australia Communications, IT and e-Commerce (CITeC) Standards Sector Board (SSB) developed and approved Australia’s contribution.

ECMA provided a response to all contradictions raised and subsequently JTC1 made the document available as ISO/IEC DIS 29500 Information technology - Office Open XML file formats standard for actual balloting by the ISO/IEC member nations.

Voting options available to Australia

As a Participating Member of JTC1, Australia has an obligation review and submit a vote on the document. The options open are:

• Approve

• Approve with comment

• Abstain

• Disapprove with comment - disapproval of the DIS (or DAM) for technical reasons to be stated, with proposals for changes that would make the document acceptable (acceptance of these proposals shall be referred to the NB concerned for confirmation that the vote can be changed to approval)

The final vote will be submitted by Standards Australia by 2 September 2007.

Discussion

Rick Jelliffe –

Rick Jellife provided a broad overview of the working mechanisms of ISO and specifically his long involvement with ISO JTC1/SC 34 – Document Description and Processing Languages. He also discussed in broad terms ISO/IEC 29500 Information technology — Office Open XML file formats.

Karen Koomen -

Karen Koomen provided feedback and spoke briefly on behalf of the case for not ratifying ISO/IEC 29500. Karen stated she would like to add to her comments by providing further feedback from Rob Weir via a presentation (attached).

IBM pod cast slides:

Greg Stone-

Greg Stone articulated the case for a yes vote on the document (presentation attached), and had the following individuals state the case for a yes vote as part of his presentation.

Danika Bakalich (ComTIA)

Richard White (CargoWiseEDI)

Microsoft presentation slides:

Other contributions-

All participants at the forum were given an opportunity to speak publicly and present their positions. There were views expressed which supported the ratification of the document, and other participants supported a no vote on the document.

There were significant views expressed by the representative of Standards Australia Committee IT-019 (Computer Applications – Information and Documentation) and IT-019-01 (Information Technology for Learning, Education and Training), and National Archives of Australia. They voiced their concerns in the document being ratified at the ISO level.

Closing comments

Alistair Tegart thanked all the participants for contributing to a constructive and productive discussion. He invited participants to submit written comments by 21 August 2007, and reiterated that all the comments received by Standards Australia and the discussions at the forum will be utilised to formulate the submission that will be presented to the Standards Australia Communications, IT and eCommerce (CITeC) Sector Board.

The Standards Australia CITeC Board will discuss and formulate the final position from Standards Australia, which will be submitted to ISO/IEC JTC1 before the ballot closing date of 2 September 2007 .

Alistair Tegart stated that all the participants would be informed of the final position (vote) that will be submitted by Standards Australia.

Written comment closes COB 21 August 2007.
Mail to: michael.langdon(a)standards.org.au

The Forum closed at 1pm.

From: "Standards Australia DIS 29500 discussion forum record", message from Michael Langdon, STandrads Australia, Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:29:51 +1000

Attached to the word processing document was a list of attendees, plus PDF of presentation slides from IBM and Microsoft. The presentation "Some Thoughts Concerning DIS 29500 “OOXML" by Rob Weir, IBM, has similar content to his Blog. The Microsoft presentation "The case for a positive vote for Office Open XML Standard (ECMA-376)", has similar content to the Microsoft OOXML web site.

How to submit comments on OOXML ISO/IEC 29500

Following last week's forum on the Draft International Standard ISO/IEC 29500, "Information technology - Office Open XML file formats", Standards Australia have invited written comments by 21 August 2007:

Attached is the ISO template for comments for DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 29500, Information technology - Office Open XML file formats. Please insert your comments in this template.

Comments will be collated in a master template. The master comment template will be updated on a daily basis until COB 21 August 2007 which is the close off date for comments, after which collated comments will be provided to the Standards Australia Communications, IT & eCommerce (CITeC) sector board meeting.

Please note the structure of the ISO comments template. There are three types of comment: ge = general, te = technical, and ed = editorial. Comment type can be listed in column 4. Comments can also list a clause number(s), paragraph, figure, table or note number. Insert comments and list the proposed change in the next column.

Email the template back for addition to the master comment template. Please do not email other Standards Australia employees, or email lists, this as the comments just come back to me for compilation anyway: michael.langdon (a)standards.org.au ...

From: Michael Langdon, Project Manager, Commerce, Standards Australia, 14 Aug 2007

A copy of the draft ISO/DIS 29500 is available from the Standards Australia web site, at the Communications, IT and e-Commerce Sector Board. However, the draft is in the form of a 46 Mbyte Zip file. The text of the standard is 5220 pages of PDF.

Here is the text of the comment template, for information. If you want to submit a comment you should request a copy of the template from Standards Australia:

Template for comments and observations

Date: Due to Standards Australia by COB 21Aug 2007

Document:DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARDISO/IEC 29500 Information technology - Office Open XML file formats

1	2	(3)	4	5	(6)	(7)
MB1	Clause No. / Subclause No. / Annex (e.g. 3.1)	Paragraph / Figure / Table / Note (e.g. Table 1)	Type of comment2	Comment (justification for change)	Proposed change	Observations on each comment submitted
AU

ps: I note that SA are distributing the template as a 34 kbyte RTF file. If converted to the international ODF format, it reduces to 11 kbytes.

The ODF standard (ISO/IEC 26300:2006) is 728 pages (14 Kbytes) of PDF from ISO and costs CHF 342.00 (about $US285). At this rate, the OOXML standard will cost $US2,000 a copy. ;-)

Advanced vehicle systems for developing nations

Systems such as the $US395 Ford Sync car dashboard computer show that computer technology for cars is now affordable for more than just upmarket models. Recently I was asked for some ideas for research on vehicles and IT and so suggested using in car computers to provide facilities usually requiring expensive roadside infrastructure and be used to reduce traffic congestion and fuel use, particularly in developing nations.

Theme: Advanced vehicle systems for developing nations

This research will focus on the use of current or soon to be available mass produced computer and telecommunications hardware which can cost effectively applied to vehicles by use of advanced new computer applications. The technology will be developed for and tested in Australia's remote and harsh outback conditions and then sold to existing markets in the Middle East and new markets in developing nations, such as India and China. This will address the AutoCRC's mission to deliver smarter, safer and cleaner vehicle technology for Australia's benefit.

BACKGROUND

Technology which could be applied on a small scale by one manufacturer will be emphasized, rather than systems which require widespread industry adoption or government mandate. Instead of the "trickle down" approach, where technology developed for dense US and European roads has to be modified, the technology will be developed with these conditions in mind. Australian long distance driving, and for similar conditions in the middle east, demand different features from vehicle systems. Developing nations cannot afford large scale infrastructure to support advanced vehicle systems and so a more independent approach is needed.

CORE TECHNOLOGIES:

* CAR COMMS: Many vehicle technology applications assume that a reliable wireless communications network is available, usually provided by the cellular telephone network. However, this network is not universally available outside Australian urban centers. Also such systems are not necessarily affordable for the envisaged applications, particularly in developing nations. Mesh networks offer a low cost alternative form of communications, but a number of research questions remain before they could be considered reliable, particularly when used from moving vehicles. This research would look at software designs for WiFi and WiMax mesh networks for cars. The systems would be designed for adhoc car to car communications , as well as integration with the newly announced Australian WiMax system. The communications system would be used for entertainment, person to person communications and car navigation tasks.

* DASHBOARD INTERFACE: Many cars will have a computer screen in the car dashboard which either came with the car or was added. These systems can be used for family social use and for mobile e-commerce applications, such as taxi trucks in developing nations. However, the cost of developing an application for these systems is currently prohibitively high. This research project would look at a toolkit of application components using Web 2.0 related technology to build social and commercial applications for vehicles.

OpenMoko provides a standard open source hardware platforms for developers of in-car computers. The Reva NGX show-car model showed the use of similar technology, with an Indian made Linux touch screen computer in the dashboard.

* VEHICLE INTERFACE: Modern cars have computer controlled systems which could be used for remote monitoring and automated control. This research would look at how to provide standardized interfaces to engine management, breaking, steering and other onboard systems.

EXAMPLE APPLICATIONS:

* FAMILY TRIP PLANNER: The family would use the car communications network and dashboard screen to plan trips. The screen could automatically show where the family is, from the location of their smart phones and plot this against the car location and family schedule. The system could then automatically route the driver to family events:

"... the built in phone would refuse to take any calls while your car was in motion. The automated voice response system would say on your behalf "Yes dear, I am on his way to pick up the kids, ETA is 2 minutes. I have parking slot 3 reserved in the school queuing system. Press 1 if you want me to get some milk on the way home, press 2 for bread ...".

From: Re: RUF Dual Mode transport system, Tom Worthington, Link Mailing List, Jun 7 09:39:27 EST 2006

This is the scenario I suggested AIIA CEO, Sheryle Moon's talk on "The ICT Industry In Australia".

* SMART ROAD TOLL: The current toll roads, such as the Sydney M7 are based on expensive RFID or optical number plate recognition infrastructure. Also the toll amount is fixed, resulting in under use of the road at off peak times. Cars equipped with communcations and location systems could provide a lower cost option for tolling. The vehicle could also advise the toll road of the drivers intended route and time, to set a suitable price.

* SMART ROAD: Vehicles could cooperatively communicate the road conditions to each other and to traffic authorities. Vehicles slow or stopped in a lane could be advised to oncoming drivers and to authorities. Existing systems for this rely on expensive networks of in road sensors or cameras.

* SAFETY OF LIFE ON ROAD: SOLOR would provide a system for automatic commercial vehicle tracking for safety purposes. It would be analogous to the Automatic Identification System (AIS) used by international shipping under the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). SOLOR would monitor all commercial vehicles for public safety and conformance with cargo safety, driver fatigue and other rules. An adaption of the system would be available for use in trouble spots to monitor all commercial vehicles for detection of possible truck bombs.

* TRAVELLING WIRELESS HOTSPOT: Public vehicles, such as busses, could be equipped with mobile wireless hotspots to connect both their own passengers and surrounding cars to the Internet. This would provide a lower cost and more robust system than fixed roadside antennas.

* PIMP MY RADIO: The Pimp My Radio demonstrator vehicle would be outfitted with an advanced audio and video digital entertainment system, in the style of the MTV show Pimp My Ride. In addition to a high quality surround sound system, the vehicle would have high resolution screens and multi player online game consoles. The vehicle systems would be interfaced to form part of the game, with the vehicle and its occupants being represented by avatars in My Space and similar systems.

* CAR SHARE SYSTEM: Systems such as Australia's GoGet car share offer access to cars for those who only need them occasionally or cannot afford to won one. GoGet's current web based booking system and RFID tags could be built into the car communications system, allowing better utilization at a lower cost.

* GUIDED HIGHWAY: Light rail provides an efficient method of public transport in urban areas. However, the startup costs are high and does not suit organic growth. There have been various proposals for road vehicles adapted to guided ways, the longest such route in the world being the The longest guided busway in the world being the Adelaide O-Bahn Busway. Such systems have depended on mechanical modification of specially procured vehicles. Proposals for advanced computer controlled guided systems have not been successful. This project will research the adaption of existing vehicles, particularly hybrid cars, and hybrid light trucks and mini-busses for automated guidance. The existing onboard computer controlled systems would be modified with a minimum of additional hardware and using a wireless network for tolling, navigation and safety. The and the existing in-dash computer would be used for the driver interface. The system would be designed so provide car owners, taxi truck and mini-buss operators could drive their own cars onto the guided road.

MILITARY APPLICATIONS AND POSSIBLE RESEARCH COLLABORATION

Many of the issues with the use of vehicle mounted communications in remote areas also apply to the military. Adhoc self forming networks could be applied to the Australian Defence Force's need for communications in remote areas at short notice. In vehicle screens could be applied to situational awareness for Australian Army ASLAV and Bushmaster vehicles. This could also be used for civilian contractor vehicles used in conflict areas, where a full military communications fit out was not feasible.

Open Source Alternative to the Ford Sync Dashboard Computer?

Ford have announced that their "Ford Sync" , dashboard system will cost $US395 as an option extra initially on late 2007 US models such as the Focus. But perhaps open source hardware can provide an alternative for a larger range of vehicles and expanded applications, paritularaly for developing nations.

The Ford Sync uses Microsoft software and is intended as a low cost version of the dashboard screens for audio, video, SMS text messages, telephone and computer access (flash overview available). The system keeps costs down by interfacing via Bluetooth or USB to external music players and phones. Voice recognition or steering wheel buttons are proposed.

The Projects such as OpenMoko provide standard open source hardware platforms for developers of in-car computers. The Reva NGX show-car model has an Indian made Linux touch screen computer in the dashboard. This goes beyond what is proposed for Ford Sync, by providing the car speedometer, as well as communications and entertainment. An alternative would be a removable or portable computer, connected to the car's audio system, but with no inbuilt screen.

Dashboard screens have previously been associated with upmarket models of vehicles. As these become more common it opens up the possibility of new vehicle applications. These could be used to provide facilities usually requiring expensive roadside infrastructure and be used to reduce traffic congestion and fuel use, particularly in developing nations. Recently I was asked for some ideas for research on vehicles and IT and these may be applicable.

Making Standards Online

The recent controversy over the ISO ballot on Office Open XML/OOXML ISO 29500 highlights a problem caused by innovation in standards development. The ballot is for the adoption of the OOXML format of Microsoft Office as an international standard, alongside the existing ODF standard. The issue has caused concern amongst IT professionals worldwide for lack of transparency in the process. But much of that concern is due to the assumption that the tools developed for Internet and web standards are used for ISO standards.

IT professionals now routinely using the Internet and the web for the development of standards. Unfortunately the international and national standards making processes have not kept up with these developments. The result is that standards development in increasingly taking place outside the formal national and international processes. There is a need to incorporate these new ways of working online into the formal processes, otherwise ISO, SA and other bodies will cease to be relevant to standards making for IT. As the same online methods of working are adopted by other professional areas this will result in the breakdown of national and international standards process.

A few small changes needed to standards working processes to allow for meshing with an online work process. Standards Australia has made some moves in this direction with its "Consensus Builder" web based application. However, more needs to be done. New XML based web developments will make this process a lot easier. It will also reduce the cost of administering the standards process. Australia is one of the leaders in development of technology in this area and could lead the world in standards development.

Australian OOXML Standard Process

Standards Australia are hosting a forum on the proposed Draft International Standard ISO/IEC 29500, "Information technology - Office Open XML file formats" on 9 August 2007 in Sydney. Standards Australia have sent out an agenda for the meeting which details the decision process, which I was unable to find this on the Standards Australia website, so here are some excerpts:

Proposed Draft International Standard (DIS) ISO/IEC 29500 Information technology - Office Open XML file formats standard

Standards Australia Industry Forum ...

BACKGROUND

The European Computer Manufactures' Association International (Ecma International) adopted and published the Microsoft Open Office XML specification as ECMA 376 late in 2006. Ecma approached ISO/IEC JTC1, the international standards organisation for information technology, seeking to use the fast track process to elevate its standard to International Standard status late in 2006, as per its recognised status as a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) submitter. The JTC1 enquiry process opened on 1 January 2007, for a 30 day period.

In accordance with the JTC1 Directives (their process rules) Member countries were asked to list any apparent contradictions with existing standards (including ISO/IEC 26300: Information technology - Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument)). Some 19 countries did this, including Australia. The Standards Australia Communications, IT and e-Commerce (CITeC) Standards Sector Board (SSB) developed and approved Australia’s contribution.

ECMA provided a response to all contradictions raised and subsequently JTC1 made the document available as ISO/IEC DIS 29500 Information technology - Office Open XML file formats standard for actual balloting by the ISO/IEC member nations.

PROCESS

As a Participating Member of JTC1, Australia has an obligation to vote on this document. The options open are:

• Approve
• Approve with comment
• Abstain
• Disapprove with comment (disapproval of the DIS for technical reasons to be stated, with proposals for changes that would make the document acceptable (acceptance of these proposals shall be referred to the NB concerned for confirmation that the vote can be changed to approval).

This contribution will be approved in advance by the CITeC Standards Sector Board by consensus.

The final vote will be submitted by Standards Australia by 2 September 2007.

PURPOSE OF THIS MEETING

The purpose of this meeting is to provide a forum for discussion by interested parties to advise Standards Australia in development of its submission for approval by the CITeC Standards Sector Board.

Invitees to this meeting include:

• Members of Standards Australia’s committees:
• IT-004 Geographical Information Systems
• IT-015 Software & Systems Engineering
• IT-019 Computer Applications – Information & Documentation
• IT-027 Data Management & Interchange
• IT-031 Computer Modelling and Simulation
• Members of the CITeC SSB
• Interested parties who have submitted comments since the beginning of the initial comment period in January 2007, by e-mail or letter.

Participants are invited to contribute their comments in writing following the forum by 21 August 2007 to ensure that they are considered in development of the submission to the CITeC SSB.

CONSIDERATIONS TO NOTE

Standards Australia is recognised by the Government as Australia’s peak standards body. It develops Australian Standards® of public benefit and national interest and supports excellence in design and innovation through the Australian Design Awards.

Standards Australia is Australia’s representative on the International Organization for
Standardization [ISO], the International Electrotechnical Commission [IEC], and the Pacific Area Standards Congress [PASC].

Participation in international committee work is dependent on our capacity to consult and respond through the Australian committee structure. The CITeC Standards Sector Board is responsible for this vote.

This forum is being conducted by Standards Australia as a courtesy to stakeholders. It is an extraordinary meeting that we are not required to hold, but do so to provide an open process. We appreciate your attendance and expect that you appreciate our effort in making this opportunity available to you.

Standards Australia values its vote as a participating member of all international committees, and does not exercise it injudiciously. We provide considered Australian viewpoints that are beneficial to Australian stakeholders, including industry, government, academia and the general community, through the facilitation of trade and the inclusion of clear Australian requirements in international standards.

The JTC1 process has established that the ECMA-376 document is not contradictory to existing standards and ECMA has responded to a number of technical considerations raised in the initial consultation period. This forum is not to debate the merits of the JTC1 decision making process or the validity of the ECMA response.

While technical comments are welcomed, it would be entirely counter productive to use this forum to reiterate technical comments that have already been raised and are likely to be debated in every JTC1 member body in some form.

We are looking for creative, positive contributions that emphasise our commitment to representing truly Australian views to the international community.

To ensure the best outcome for the meeting, we ask you to note the guidelines and agenda below.

GUIDELINES

• Standards Australia will document the meeting and will share with attendees/interested parties not able to attend. Discussion will not be recorded, in line with our general committee meeting policies.

• When general discussion commences, please limit your contribution to no more than five minutes.

• Speakers should be allowed to complete presentations, prior to inviting questions or comments. Responses, including questions, should be raised through meeting chair.

• When individuals do comment, they should state their name and organisational affiliation, if any.

• Respect others’ opinions.

AGENDA

10am Opening of the meeting and attendance (please sign attendance list)
10.10am Introduction - Standards Australia
10.30am Invited discussion openers
10.30 -10.40am General overview of the standards process
10.40 – 11.00am Objections to ISO/IEC adoption of DIS 29500
11.00 – 11.20am Case for ISO/IEC adoption of DIS 29500
11.20am 20 minute break
11.40am General Discussion
12.45pm Summary and next steps
1pm Close

Participants are invited to contribute their comments in writing following the forum by 21 August 2007 to ensure that they are considered in development of the submission to the CITeC Standards

Sector Board.

CONTACT

Please confirm attendance via e-mail to: michael.langdon (a) standards.org.au

Australia to decide on OOXML Stanadard

Standards Australia are hosting a forum on the proposed Draft International Standard ISO/IEC 29500, "Information technology - Office Open XML file formats" on 9 August 2007 in Sydney. OOXML is European Ecma standard 376 and is based on the format used in Microsoft Office 2007. The Forum is limited to 30 persons and seats can be reserved by email to: michael.langdon (a) standards.org.au Comments on the standard can be sent to: alistair.tegart (a) standards.org.au

The British Standards Institute have taken the innovative step of using a Wiki to help prepare input on how the UK should vote on ISO ballot on Office Open XML/OOXML ( DIS 29500). There is a set of very carefully prepared detailed UK comments on the draft standard.

The UK comments typically are suggesting that proprietary and obsolete Microsoft features in the standard be replaced with non-proprietary and more up to date ones. An example is to replace an old hash algorithm from Excell with a more robust one.

The comments get a little cheeky at times, such as suggesting a "doWrongDateCalculationsLikeExcel" tag. But as far as I can see these changes are feasible and would make the standard better at the cost of causing some minor inconvenience to Microsoft. However, if OOXML needs changes to make it suitable as an international standard, then its major feature (compatibility with Microsoft Office) is lost.

There is already an XML based international standard for office document formats: OpenDocument ISO/IEC 26300:2006. ODF has similar functionality to the proposed OOXML.

There is work already underway to provide translation between OOXML and ODF. When such a translation available, Microsoft Office users can then use the existing international standard format. There would therefore be no need top adopt OOXML as an international standard.

Both OOXML and ODF are derived from existing legacy proprietary software packages: OOXML from Microsoft Office and ODF from Sun Star Office (later adopted for OpenOffice.Org). ODF is based on newer software and so has fewer quirks. Both are based on XML formats, but neither is directly compatible with web browsers or other web software.

A better approach would be to base the word processor, which is the most used part of the office document format, on a modern web standard, such as XHTML 2.

Web and ODF documents in PDF?

Getting acceptance for new document formats from users is difficult. If someone gets a file with an ODF or some other extension they have never heard of it will be a worry for them. But if they get a PDF file that is okay.

Perhaps PDF can be used as Trojan horse (in a nice way) for this. Some versions of PDF (such as PDF/UA) have provision for embedding data files. This could be used to include a Open Document Format (ODF) or web document and its associated formatting and images inside the PDF document.

The OpenOffice.org office suite could be modified to package an editable version of documents in a PDF file (and an equivalent addon provided for Microsoft Office). OO already creates PDF versions of documents, so to this could be added an option to include a copy of the original source document. The person receiving the document would see the PDF rendering by default, but would have the option to work on the original editable file and be offered a link to download a copy of OO, or a conversion tool for Microsoft Office, if needed.

Most of the space taken up by word processing documents is in the images, not the text. It should be possible to share the images between the PDF rendering and the ODF document. As a result adding the ODF document to the PDF may not make the document much bigger.

ODF is better than not having a standard format for office documents, but is not perfect. My preference would be to use XHTML 2 for word processing documents, so they could be directly rendered by web browsers. Word Processing programs are rapidly becoming just a way to create not very good web content and it would be better if they created well formatted web format documents directly.

Compatibility with existing products is a legitimate concern when setting a standard. As an example this was a major consideration in the standard for shipping containers, with discussion of what adaptors would be needed.

Standards based on something which has been shown to work are better standards. But this does result in some quirks, as an example shipping containers are stronger than they need to be (increasing costs) due to the need to meet some old European railway standards. The cords for some computers are rated to withstand high temperatures as the standard they are made to was designed for electric kettles. Putting office documents inside PDF files would be a bit like a computer cable you could use to boil water, but at least it would work.

Clustering TDB right answer to wrong question

Andrew Tridgell from IBM OzLabs gave an impressive live demonstration of Clustering TDB on Monday. He claims that the clustered version of Samba will allow for very large servers to be built to serve Microsoft Windows PCs as well as Linux computers. These can service 30,000 PC users with one server machine having 100 processor nodes. The server could have 10,000 disk drives and hold millions of gigabytes of data (petabytes).

The bit I didn't understand was why anyone would want such a server. If you have a very large number of users running from the one server in an organization, it is likely they are mostly running the same small set of applications. In this case it would be far more efficient to run those applications on shared processors, than on desktop PCs. This would likely result in a 90% saving in hardware.

In the extreme case if 30,000 desktop PCs are running the same application, there will have to be 30,000 copies of the same software loaded from the server and installed in 30,000 sets of RAM. Ideally, if a shared processor was used, only one copy of the application would need to be loaded in one set of RAM. In reality several copies would be needed and each user needs some RAM for their own data, but this could still save 90% of the data traffic and RAM.

One reason to use PCs is to be able to use Microsoft Office and other windows applications. It is possible to run these from a remote server and use software such as Citrix to provide it to a desktop. An example of this is the new State Library of Queensland, which uses Citrix for some reader machines.

A better approach would be to use applications which were designed to run efficiently in a shared environment. One way to make this palatable to users would be to offer them Web based applications which they could use remotely. While these would have a less interactive interface than PC applications, they would have the advantage for the user of being available anywhere there was a web browser available. They would also work well with the Web 2.0 collaborative idea, allowing staff to share information more easily.

The advantage for the technical staff would be that they would be extremely efficient in processor and memory use. In addition web based applications using efficiently encoded data will need less storage space. The 100 node 10,000 disk PC system may only need 10 processors and 1,000 disks if implemented with a web based interface.

Microsoft Office OpenXML to ODF Standard Transalation Software

Version 1 of open source software to translate from Microsoft Office 2007's OpenXML format to Open Office's standard ODF is available:

Open XML Translator provides tools to build a technical bridge between the Open XML Formats and Open Document Format(ODF). As the first component of this initiative, the ODF Add-in for Microsoft Word 2007 allows to Open & Save ODF documents in Word.

From: Open XML Translator: Release 1.0 now avalaible!, OpenXML/ODF Translator Add-in for Office, ollie_d, SourceForge, 2007-02-05 22:45

As well as an add-in for Microsoft Word, Powerpoint and Excell, there is a command line interface available. There is a detailed list of what is and is not supported:

The ODF-Converters (cooresponding to Word translator, Excel translator and PowerPoint translator) translate OpenXML documents, spreadsheets and presentations (.DOCX, .XLSX and .PPTX) to Open Document Formats - ODF 1.0 formats (.ODF, .ODS and .ODP respectively) and conversely, for Open XML processing applications.

From: Features, OpenXML/ODF Translator Add-in for Office

Unfortunately the software requires you to have Microsoft software installed. That is, the translation allows you to create OpenOffice documents, using Microsoft Office, without a copy of OpenOffice. But you can't create Microsoft 2007 OpenXML format documents from Open Office. So this is not as great an advance as it would first seem.

The OpenOffice software is free and runs on Linux and Apple systems as well as Microsoft Windows. It already supports the old Microsoft Office formats and so could be sued to translate from Microsoft to ODF formats. What would be handy is a standalone OpenXML to ODF translator. But that would be considerably harder than an Office add-on.

Online Collaboration for Government

Denise Holehouse, from Microsoft presented "Creating Business Value through Better Collaboration" to the ACS Canberra branch on Tuesday:

The world is becoming more interconnected and organizations that want to succeed in this new environment need to become more connected as well. This is not simply an information technology (IT) architecture issue, but a challenge to individuals, teams, government, businesses, and the wider world:

How can we work together better?

How can we pool our knowledge to improve results?

How can we make processes more efficient, while delivering personal care and service when it matters most?

How can we manage the flood of information that’s overflowing our inboxes, our mobile phones, and our lives? ...

Denise concentrated on aspects likely to be most of interest to an audience of government ICT people (A show of hand indicated three quarters of the audience were from government agencies). She showed a slide illistrating some of the issues for government, including consultation and collaboration.

She then showed a short video which saw a spoof of the film The Devil Wears Prada. This had people in an office quickly organizing a video conference, interacting using computer and phones and using technologies such as voice recognition.

Clearly none of the technologies Microsoft was illistrating in the video, or offering, are new. Collaboration tools, including desktop video are already available, including open source free versions. What Microsoft were claiming is that all the technologies can be combined together and made easy to operate. Microsoft Office 2007 includes interface features such as "The Ribbon" and Contextual Tabs.

One interesting development is that Microsoft have acquired Groove, and incorporated it in Office:

At its most basic level, Groove is desktop software designed to facilitate collaboration and communication among small groups. It is a Windows-based commercial product initially developed by Lotus Notes creator Ray Ozzie (former CEO of Iris Associates). The central Groove paradigm is the shared workspace, a set of files to be shared plus some aids for group collaboration. ...

From: Microsoft Office Groove, Wikipdedia, 16:23, 27 April 2007

In incorporating new collaboration features and making its existing Microsoft Office product easier to operate, Microsoft is not so much competing with other companies, as with itself and with the web. The most commonly used office product is Microsoft Office. So to convince customers to use the new easier to use version, Microsoft must convince customers to stop using the old version.

If Microsoft pushes the customers too hard, they may decide to move from their current version of Microsoft Office to something like OpenOffice.Org. This is a free open source product. It may not be as powerful, or as easy to use, as Microsoft Office 2007, but will look familiar and be adequate for most office tasks (and more than enough for home use).

Open Format Wars

Denise mentioned in her talk that Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) format has been adopted as a standard by the European body ECMA. This is a respected standards body and gives the new format some credibility (ECMA have also submitted the OOXML to ISO to make it an International Standard).

But it should be noted that OOXML is a new format and the formats used by the old versions of Microsoft Office (such as .DOC for word processing) are not part of the standard. Conversion tools will be needed for the old packages to read and write the new format.

OOXML is a Zipped XML format and is conceptually similar to the OpenDocument (ODF) format used by OpenOffice.Org and some other open source packages. But ODF is already an International Standard (ISO/IEC 26300:2006) and is much smaller and simpler than OOXML.

It is likely that the old Microsoft Office formats will continue to be used for day to day work. New application needing good integration will likely use some XML based format. But newer versions of XHTML are likely to be a better format to use than OOXML or ODF for most word processing documents.

What is likely is that simpler XML formats which can be directly displayed by a web browser will be used for publishing and interchange. These formats will be converted to the new package formats (and legacy Microsoft Office formats) only when the documents need to be edited. Applications such as ICE already take this approach, allow publishing of large, complex documents from Microsoft Word into print, web and PDF formats. Microsoft has similar features in its software.

Twenty first Century Collaboration On Web 2.0?

The competition for Microsoft's collaboration tools is not a particular product or company, but is Web based applications and the so called "Web 2.0". Microsoft is emphasizing traditional collaboration tools, such as automated workflow and support for meetings. If you ask, they will tell you they support web applications and Web 2.0, but they do not emphasize it as it is likely to worry traditional corporate customers.

Staff who are used to wikis, blogs and the like socially will want to use these tools to do their work. The idea that they have to use rigid workflow processes to move a form around the office electronically, or have to use a rigid meeting structure online will seem so "last century". These staff will want to get the work done online now, using the tools directly to do the work. If the tools are not available from the software on their PC, they will turn to the web for tools. These staff may not even realize that the Microsoft software they have on their desktop is capable of providing these functions, but that the corporate IT area has disabled access to it. The staff will just see Microsoft as providing last century applications and look elsewhere.

If collaboration is being done directly online, the most natural way is with software on a web server and a web browser on the desktop. An organization only needs one copy of the collaboration software on their server. They can even outsource the server to someone else. They don't need any special software on their PCs, as any compatible web browser using any operating system will do. In fact the organization does not need any PCs: they could use thin client terminals (most likely running Linux). Mobile staff many not need a desktop at all and can use the web on a smartphone running any operating system with a compatible browser.

Throw out your PCs and Workflow Systems

Organizations looking to upgrade their office and collaboration tools need to seriously look at the options. It may be time to throw out the desktop applications and perhaps the PCs for most users. This will greatly reduce the support costs, as the minimal software on a thin client will take little maintenance. With no disk drives and no data stored on the desktop, security will also be improved. For some offices the organization could just have a router with terminals and no servers at all: everything would operate over a secure Internet connection from a remote location.

Organizations need to take a long hard look at their work practices as well. As an example, government agencies which produce large traditionally formatted documents should look at why they are doing this. Few people want to read these big documents and almost no one reads them in print. If the document is going to end up being a collection of web pages, it makes no sense to use a word processor, or any traditional typesetting tools, to create it.

The traditional approach to creating a government report would be to circulate a request for input, collect contributions, collate a draft in the word processor, circualte it for comment, make revisions, typeset, print and then create a web version. An alternative would be to create a Wiki which allows any authorized staff member to edit. The coordinator would prepare the outline of the document as a series of pages in the Wiki and check contributions. But rather than approve contributions in advance, and have meetings about what should be in the report, the editor would check what was in and join the online conversation about it. Most of the workflow and meetings are then not needed, nor is software needed to support them.

A more radical approach would be to also invite external stakeholders to also edit the report, or even the general public (I have used the approach in preparing ICT industry contributions to government which later became public policy). This would get government out a rapidly building problem: online consultation. The availability of the web has created an expectation that the public will be consulted by government, but the traditional approach of inviting submissions and taking comment will not scale.

ps: Microsoft offer a paper "Creating Business Value through Better Collaboration" on their Australian teams web site. However, when I attempted to download it I got "Sorry, there is no microsoft.com/australia/ web page matching your request".