What is important here is that when confronted with customer interest in the open ODF standard, Microsoft created an entirely different "open" standard and then

What is important here is that when confronted with customer interest in the open ODF standard, Microsoft created an entirely different "open" standard and then used their influence to push it. This is a routine technique used by dominant players in many technical industries. The trick is to not push your standard too hard, then you risk that it becomes an actual industry standard. You need to maintain a balance to maintain both standards, thus significantly reducing the power of both. Perhaps Microsoft is at the point where it doesn't feel all that threatened by ODF and is reducing the value of their standard with complexity. Does Microsoft even bother to produce documents that conform to either standard any more?