The Office System

Microsoft Enhances Office 2007 and OpenOffice Interoperability

With patent infringement allegations in the background

By Marius Oiaga, Technology News Editor

21st of May 2007, 06:51 GMT

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Microsoft has a conflicting relationship with OpenOffice. After last week's patent infringement allegations, the Redmond Company now delivers additional support for the open source productivity suite. Via SourceForge.net - Microsoft's open source project - the company has made available for download the beta build of the Open XML Translator. The add-in for Windows XP, and Office Excel and Office PowerPoint 2003 and 2007 will enable users to open and save OpenDocument format (ODF) files.

"Since Microsoft first announced its support for its open source Open XML Translator project to provide interoperability between the Open XML and ODF formats, it has remained among the 25 most active projects on SourceForge.net, and the Microsoft Office Word tool delivered earlier this year has been

downloaded more than 100,000 times," Microsoft revealed.

And while aiming to make Open XML an indispensable item in the global document interoperability equation, Microsoft has also announced that it will embrace China's Unified Office Format (UOF). As of yet, the Redmond Company will deliver interoperability with its Ecma Open XML, as the new file formats in Office 2007 have not yet been internationally standardized.

"Our customers have told us their data needs can't be addressed by a one-format or one-standard-fits-all approach," stated Jean Paoli, general manager of Interoperability and XML Architecture at Microsoft. "Everyone wants to use their data in slightly different ways. That's why we are enabling customers to pick from whatever format they want to use with their Office documents - whether it's ODF, Open XML, PDF, or new standards like UOF."

The UOF translation tools will be a repeat of the Open XML Translator, and, in fact, a new project added to SourceForge.net. According to the Redmond Company, the UOF Translator will also be made available as an open source software and a free download. Microsoft promised that the final version of the new add-in for its Office system will be finalized in early 2008. The first build of the UOF project is scheduled for this summer.

TAGS:

Office 2007 | Open XML | ODF | UOF | OpenOffice

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