In spite of their public opposition to Microsoft's attempt to get the ISO standardization nod for its Office Open XML (OOXML) document format, <A HREF="http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1121&tag=nl.e622">IBM and Google quietly are supporting OOXML.</A> That's according to two blog postings from the end of last week by Microsoft execs involved in the OOXML vs. Open Document Format (ODF) standards battle.

In a blog post entitled, "Speaking of odd contradictions..." Gray Knowlton, Microsoft Group Product Manager of the Office technical product management team, cited IBM's support for OOXML in two products: IBM DB2 Content Manager v8.4 and IBM Websphere Portal. A company spokeswoman said Microsoft also had discovered IBM is supporting OOXML in its IBM Lotus Quickr team-collaboration product, as well as in IBM DB2 9 pureXML.