Filed under: Software
Office To Support Open XML Format
Yesterday's big Microsoft news was that the next version of Office will ship with a completely new file format that will be XML and open (unlike the current XML option which is closed meaning you're not supposed to be able to fiddle with it). Current versions of Office will also support these new formats via software updates and convertors.So what you ask? Well, Rick Schaut of the MacBU (Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit) has an interesting blog post about how Office for the Mac is going to support these new formats too. Apparently this is the first major new enhancement for Office that is going to be launched at the same time across platforms.
Hopefully this new open format will lead to better integration between word processing suites (meaning that iWork and Office would be able to produce the same exact file type without skipping a beat).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Al said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
A MicroSoft product promising perfect cross-platform, cross-application data integration?
Sounds too good to be true...
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Small Paul said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
It does, doesn't it? But hey, the very fact that Microsoft is saying Office (which, surely, is the most ubiquitous MS product that produces files) is going to save documents in an open, royalty-free format is utterly, utterly fantastic. It really does open it all up for anyone to take the XML, and do stuff with it. If this turns out like it sounds, kudos to Microsoft.
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djones said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
Aye, this has long been a strong motivator to use products like NeoOffice (Carbonized/Java version of OpenOffice)
http://www.neooffice.org/
It can't be for the Good Of Mankind, though, heh. They have to have something up their sleeve, or some intention of use of the open XML formats.
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Anthony Hunt said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
It's the best of a bad situation for MS. This is their way of trying to stay in control. OASIS recently ratified OpenDocument, a standards-based royalty-free document format (currently used by OpenOffice).
With their own "open" format they're hoping to hold onto as much control as they can (I'll be interested to see the actual licence).
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igav said 3:44PM on 7-18-2005
So they're opening up their file format - whoopedoo - that's only because OASIS have ratified the open ducument file format which is a truly open source open standard while Microsoft do what they always do - foist their proprietary, badly-implemented nonsense onto the world so tht we continued to be stuck with them and their bug-ridden software.
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Bill Eccles said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
Is this the same format that was proposed a while back when someone (I can't remember who it was) declared that MS's proposed XML format was merely a text wrapper for the same ol' MS binary format, but wrapped in XML so that it can say it's XML?
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igav said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
Don't know about that, but I do know the European Union has said that suppliers of Office software must provide open standards-based file formats to prevent the data being lost in the future because software is no longer compatible.
I would think this is Mocrosoft's response, to create their own proprietary 'open' standard so that they can muscle their way in.
I doubt there's any difference in strategy from that they have already demonstrating when claiming that the Windows Media format is an open standard whilst trying to own the digital music download market
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