Standards are supposed to be about a process of creating points of reference that people can rely upon, arrived at through a process of careful honing and consensus. Against this background, the manner in which Microsoft's OOXML has been put through the ISO has been astonishing. As I've written elsewhere, there is a widespread feeling that the credibility and usefulness of the entire ISO system has been seriously damaged as a result of the way in which OOXML has been put through the national bodies, often by means of unprecedented procedural contortions.