Microsoft Corp. is
offering customers greater choice and more flexibility among document
formats, as well as creating additional opportunities for developer and
competitors, by expanding the range of document formats supported in its
flagship Office productivity suite.
The 2007 Microsoft Office system already provides support for 20
different document formats within Microsoft Office Word, Office Excel and
Office PowerPoint. With the release of Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2
(SP2) scheduled for the first half of 2009, the list will grow to include
support for XML Paper Specification (XPS), Portable Document Format (PDF)
1.5, PDF/A and Open Document Format (ODF) v1.1.
When using SP2, customers will be able to open, edit and save documents
using ODF and save documents into the XPS and PDF fixed formats from
directly within the application without having to install any other code.
It will also allow customers to set ODF as the default file format for
Office 2007. To also provide ODF support for users of earlier versions of
Microsoft Office (Office XP and Office 2003), Microsoft will continue to
collaborate with the open source community in the ongoing development of
the Open XML-ODF translator project on SourceForge.net.
In addition, Microsoft has defined a road map for its implementation of
the newly ratified International Standard ISO/IEC 29500 (Office Open XML).
IS29500, which was approved by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
in March, is already substantially supported in Office 2007, and the
company plans to update that support in the next major version release of
the Microsoft Office system, code-named "Office 14."
Microsoft is also committed to providing Office customers with the
ability to open, edit and save documents in the Chinese national document
file format standard, Uniform Office Format (UOF). The company does so
today by supporting the continued development of the UOF-Open XML
translator project on SourceForge.net, and will take additional steps to
promote the distribution and ease of use of the translator. As UOF develops
and achieves market adoption in China, Microsoft will distribute support
for this format with Office to its customers in China.
Consistent with its interoperability principles, in which the company
committed to work with others toward robust, consistent and interoperable
implementations across a broad range of widely deployed products, the
company has also announced it will be an active participant in the future
evolution of ODF, Open XML, XPS and PDF standards.
Microsoft will join the Organization for the Advancement of Structured
Information Standards (OASIS) technical committee working on the next
version of ODF and will take part in the ISO/IEC working group being formed
to work on ODF maintenance. Microsoft employees will also take part in the
ISO/IEC working group that is being formed to maintain Open XML and the
ISO/IEC working group that is being formed to improve interoperability
between these and other ISO/IEC-recognized document formats. The company
will also be an active participant in the ongoing standardization and
maintenance activities for XPS and PDF. It will also continue to work with
the IT community to promote interoperability between document file formats,
including Open XML and ODF, as well as Digital Accessible Information
System (DAISY XML), the foundation of the globally accepted DAISY standard
for reading and publishing navigable multimedia content.
"We are committed to providing Office users with greater choice among
document formats and enhanced interoperability between those formats and
the applications that implement them," said Chris Capossela, senior vice
president for the Microsoft Business Division. "By increasing the openness
of our products and participating actively in the development and
maintenance of document format standards, we believe we can help create
opportunities for developers and competitors, including members of the open
source communities, to innovate and deliver new value for customers."
Microsoft recognizes that customers care most about real-world
interoperability in the marketplace, so the company is committed to
continuing to engage the IT community to achieve that goal when it comes to
document format standards. It will work with the Interoperability Executive
Customer Council and other customers to identify the areas where document
format interoperability matters most, and then collaborate with other
vendors to achieve interoperability between their implementations of the
formats that customers are using today.
"Microsoft's support for ODF in Office is a great step that enables
customers to work with the document format that best meets their needs, and
it enables interoperability in the marketplace," said Roger Levy, senior
vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions for Novell
Inc. "Novell is proud to be an industry leader in cross-platform document
interoperability through our work in the Document Interoperability
Initiative, the Interop Vendor Alliance and with our direct collaboration
with Microsoft in our Interoperability Lab. We look forward to continuing
this work for the benefit of customers across the IT spectrum."
"The demand for a document format that everyone can use is something I
hear from our customers on a regular basis," said John D. Head, framework
manager at PSC Group LLC, a Chicago headquartered information-technology
and professional services consulting firm. "I am very pleased that
Microsoft is enabling Microsoft Office to support ODF directly from the
software. This will allow us to develop solutions that create documents
that can be edited by any user, regardless of what software or operating
system they use. In a world where software companies want people to select
one software package for their entire user base, the reality is that
different user groups and types need options. Microsoft is now enabling
users to make that choice. This is a very smart move by Microsoft, and one
that lets the most important person - the customer - be the winner."
This work on document formats is only one aspect of how Microsoft is
delivering choice, interoperability and innovative solutions to the
marketplace. Microsoft will continue to work with its customers and
partners and the rest of the industry to continue advancing in the area.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
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