On Thursday, February 21, 2008 Microsoft trotted out its VP of Legal Ops, Brad Smith along with Internet Veep Ray Ozzie and Servers Veep Bob Muglia and then proceeded to make an Important Strategic Announcement which I think was a Pledge of Allegiance to Interoperability as blessed buy Microsofts Strategic Interoperability Advisory Committee. Whew!!!
I could not understand the GobbledieGook because the language was heavily overlaid with Legalese-Speak and BabelFish still does not have a translator for that language – and even if it did, the output would certainly be amusant, nest pas. So I presumed this was either some annual Springtime Redmond Pagan Collaboration ritual done to satisfy the Legion of VARs. Or it was done in anticipation and practice for the change to a Democratic President and Executive branch in replacement of Bushs DOJ (AKA The Toothless Fairy) . Or it was tip of the hat to the European Economic Communitys Trustbusters showing that Redmond was truly working to make its APIs available and interoperable to all that wanted them.
Finally I stumbled on the Interoperability Rosetta Stone, an article by Microsoft-Watchs Joe Wilcox, that made much more sense about this Interoperability Pledge of Allegiance than I have been able to conjure up. Joes analysis is first rate. One question Joe, does this now mean that Microsoft is finally going to deliver on its 1998 Pledge of Allegiance to Deliver on all W3C Web Standards in IEx or whenever ?
March 4 update – maybe yes!