French blow for Microsoft's Office Open XML

France has voted against the adoption of Microsoft's document format Office Open XML as an international standard, while Australia has decided to abstain.

Microsoft offered its OOXML specification to standards body ECMA last year, paving the way for the file format to be fast-tracked through the International Organization for Standardization's approvals process.

If enough other national standards bodies have voted the same way as those of France, India and Brazil, and OOXML is not approved as an international standard, Microsoft could miss out on revenue from the lucrative government market.

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