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In particular, Rob takes issue with a statement that he condemns as “Microsoft FUD […] laundered via intermediaries”: There is no software that currently implements ODF as approved by the ISO Now Rob Weir is a great blogger, a much-praised committee chair, and somebody who can, on occasion, fearlessly produce the blunt truth like a rabbit from a hat. For this reason, I know his blog entry, “Toy Soldiers” of July 2008 has enjoyed quite some exposure in standards meetings around the world, most particularly for its assertions about ODF. He wrote: No one supports ODF 1.0 today. All of the major vendors have moved on to ODF 1.1, and will be moving on to ODF 1.2 soon. No one supports OOXML 1.0 today, not even Microsoft. No one supports interoperability via translation, not Sun in their Plugin, not Novell in their OOXML support, and not Microsoft in their announced ODF support in Office 2007 SP2.

So, far from being “Microsoft FUD”, the idea that “No one supports ODF 1.0” is in fact Rob Weir’s own statement. And it was taken up and repeated by Andy Updegrove, Groklaw and Boycott Novell, those well-known vehicles of Microsoft’s corporate will. Today however, this appears to have become an inconvenient truth. The rabbit that was pulled out of the hat in the interest of last summer’s spin, now needs to be put into the boiler. Consequently we find Rob’s blog entry of July 2008 has been silently amended so that it now states: Few applications today support exclusively ODF 1.0 and only ODF 1.0. Most of the major vendors also support ODF 1.1, one (OpenOffice 3.x), now supports draft ODF 1.2 as well. No one supports OOXML 1.0 today, not even Microsoft. No one supports interoperability via translation, not Sun in their Plugin, not Novell in their OOXML support, and not Microsoft in their announced ODF support in Office 2007 SP2.

The pertinent change is to item 1 on this list, which now has a weasel-worded (and tellingly tautological) assertion that might make the unsuspecting reader think that ODF 1.0 was somehow supported by the major vendors. Well, is it? Who is right, the Rob Weir of 2008 or the Rob Weir of 2009? Maybe I’ve missed something, but personally I’m unaware of an upsurge in ODF 1.0 support during the last 11 months. My money is on the former Rob being right here.

As for me, I've never denied who I work for, what my job is and what my motives are. I don't pretend to be neutral. I think when presented with market abuses like we see from Microsoft, being neutral is not a respectable position. My only weapons are facts and logic. I would not be effective if I were not known to be accurate and trustworthy.

Ah, and there is the source of your confusion. Excel 2007 SP2 does not write out document that conform to the ODF 1.1 standard.

I lay out the facts, the logic and then draw conclusions. I put my reputation on the line in every post. You could dispute the facts I present. You could argue against my logic if you wish. But you have done neither. You merely resort to ad hominen attacks. I'll take that as an expression of your frustration at not finding a hole in my argument.