How proprietary formats have become Microsoft’s main tool for lock-in!

Microsoft uses proprietary file formats, specifically Office Open XML (OOXML), to create an asymmetric information environment that locks users into its software stack. This complexity makes it difficult for competitors to achieve feature-parity, increasing the cost of migration for customers. The result is a 'standard' that is open in name but inaccessible for third-party developers. This lock-in mechanism is achieved through 'functional divergence' and proprietary extensions. As a result, users are locked into Microsoft's ecosystem.