For a few years the Vole had been trying to create open standards derived from its own XML-based file formats, such as XPS and Office XML. True, much of its work was seen as an attempt to stop competing formats, such as the Open Document Format.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1528745/microsoft-xml-patent
...and traditional Visual Basic® and C++ applications that rely on COM have access to similar functionality from Microsoft® XML Core Services (MSXML). However, these don't offer very attractive options for native C++ developers who want...
http://msdn.microsoft.com/magazine/c4336196-a2ea-4b72-9943-f275ec1b145a