The best thing about standards is that there are so many from which to choose. As Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) format and ISO/OASIS's OpenDocument Format (ODF) battle for industry supremacy, a third contender has emerged from China.
Developed by Chinese software developers, vendors, end users, and academic institutions to promote innovation and interoperability, China's Universal Office Format (UOF) is an open, XML-based format that leverages existing web standards and uses the zip format as a container like ODF and OOXML. At a recent WTO conference in Beijing, Sun chairman and former CEO Scott McNealy called for a merger between between ODF and UOF.
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