You've been posting about "content" for two pages now and I finally get it. You make "content" with MS products and, by induction, assume everyone does. Maybe that's not true. In any case, I think you are missing the equally valid point of some others here so let me try to explain again.
You see, it's an historical thing. Microsoft for sure tried and succeeded in controling the software market by creating proprietary file formats. They could have adopted an open format or a preexisting format for Word, Excel etc. but they did not. They did not because the file format of the "Content" was how they prevented customers from switching to other products, such as Word Perfect or Quattro Pro. Switching software would have orphaned all the customer's MS based, proprietary documents. Therefore, customers, once hooked on MS could not easily switch to another platform. So the operating system vendor became the dominant office software vendor also.
The Internet threatened to change all that because Internet content has to be readable by multiple operating systems in multiple countries and, therefore, has to be based on open standards whether created by Microsoft or not. HTML, jpeg and even pdf documents are based on defined, open (not secret) specs. The side effect is that some 16 year old can write code for a new browser. He could not do that if the web page was some binary mystery like Word instead of HTML text. You can bet that if they could the folks at Microsoft would have replaced HTML with Word-type formats and made it difficult for users of UNIX or outdated versions of Windows to surf the Net.
But, in fact, that's just what they tried to do. Microsoft responded to the Internet by creating all the tools you use for making content and extending the standards in an attempt to entice and then require both client and server machines to use Microsoft products (in the same way they inticed office workers into use and then dependency on MS Office). On the server side that would be Windows 2000 Server etc. and on the client side that would be IE. IE was part of a three pronged plan to get the whole Internet to be as dependent on MS as the business office is.
Fortunately, in my opinion, the tactic did not work for two reasons. The first was MS was late into the game and the Internet community was not so interested in fully adopting MS solutions. The second reason was the success of non MS servers, particularly Apache, but also Netscape and others. This success prevented MS from controlling the server side.
Without a majority of servers serving content created by MS products to IE clients they could not create secret Word-like formats that would be illegible to competing browsers, operating systems or servers. Therefore, the plan failed and they had to become good Internet citizens, abiding by open standards for the most part. But that doesn't mean they haven't tried and won't try again to make the Internet proprietary. Active Server Pages and other technologies not supported by Linux servers are part of that legacy to dominate the net in the same way and using the same tactics MS used to dominate the desktop.
You are not even remotely close. All the Internet has to offer is content. Content is the stuff that is in your browser! Your logic or reading skills are greatly flawed - I never assumed or implied anything nor did I suggest everybody uses MS to created content - DON'T BE SILLY!
You see, it's an historical thing. Microsoft for sure tried and succeeded in controling the software market by creating proprietary file formats.
Nonsense. Complete nonsense. Microsoft did not invent proprietary file formats and nearly all desktop software uses them.
They could have adopted an open format or a preexisting format for Word, Excel etc. but they did not.
None of the other word processors or spreadsheet of the time used "open formats". Word Perfect dominated the market for a long time and they too had proprietary file formats. Lotus 1-2-3 dominated the market and they too had proprietary file format. You really don't know what you are talking about - both Word and Excel read and write other file formats.