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Civility in critiquing the ideas of others is no vice. Rudeness in defending your own ideas is no virtue.


Thu 24 May 2007, 11:40 PM
It is two weeks since I posted the table of OOXML file types found by Google.  I was curious how the numbers have changed, so here is the updated file:


Format
Count (May 10, 2007)
Count (May 24, 2007)
ODT
85,200
89,000
ODS
20,700
20,600
ODP
43,400
44,800
Total ODF
149,300
154,400



DOCX
516 (12% on Microsoft.com)
659 (15% on Microsoft.com)
XLSX
68 (6% on Microsoft.com)
95 (4% on Microsoft.com)
PPTX
80 (13% on Microsoft.com)
349 (56% on Microsoft.com)
Total OOXML
664 (11% on Microsoft.com)
1103 (27% on Microsoft.com)

I'm note sure how to read these results, but they certainly don't make a compelling case for OOXML acceptance.  Yes, there has been a 27% increase in the DOCX format, but with millions of customers using Office, fewer than 1000 DOCX documents is not overwhelming.  The PPTX numbers look like they are growing by leaps and bounds, but with over 50% on Microsoft's site, and even then just 349 presentations total, the numbers are pretty minimal.  The spreads sheets are lightly represented in both formats, and even went down for ODS format.

So, a person who wanted to show that OOXML was gaining would point out that after about fifty weeks of approximately 28% growth for DOCX, versus only 4.5% growth for ODT, there would be more DOCX documents.  A person who wanted to show that ODF is doing better would point out that percentage growth is unimportant or unreliable against such small numbers, and would point to the 439 new OOXML documents versus 5100 new ODF documents.  A person who was trying to stay impartial might shrug and suggest we check back in a year.  What do you think?

Copyright © 2007 Genii Software Ltd.

Thu 24 May 2007, 08:38 PM
Tim Anderson has an interesting post about Microsoft's security advisory 937696, which describes how Microsoft is advising users to force conversion between their older binary format documents and OOXML.  This may lead to more security, but it also will have the side effect, if organizations buy into it, of spreading OOXML much more quickly.  As Tim says:
Like Joe Wilcox, I can‘t help wondering whether it was this, rather than security, which has prompted this release.
It might help with PR problems such as wondering where all the OOXML documents are.

Copyright © 2007 Genii Software Ltd.

Thu 24 May 2007, 10:24 AM
Because Devin suggested it, and in honor of ILUG2007, I took the How Irish Are You? quiz.

You're 0% Irish
You're not Irish. Not even a wee bit.
Not even on St. Patrick's Day!


I still wish I were at ILUG2007, but I have a feeling I wouldn't fit in well.

Copyright © 2007 Genii Software Ltd.