Microsoft Joins Office 2007 and OpenOffice at the Hip

Microsoft will stop at nothing to drive the ratification of Open XML (the native file format of the Office 2007System) as an international standard. In this sense, the Redmond Company is gathering additional support for the Ecma Open XML-Open Document Format Translator Project from the Linux side of the trenches. Microsoft applauded a new partnership inked with Asian Linux distributor Turbolinux designed to support document interoperability. Open XML is currently in the process of joining OpenOffice's ODF as an ISO standard. And Microsoft is emphasizing the interoperability efforts between open source and proprietary software solutions.

"We know that some customers may want to work with multiple file formats and that translators between Ecma Open XML and ODF are tools that enable this. We are undertaking this effort as an open source project to enable ODF supporters and experts, whether they want to assume an official role in the community the way Turbolinux is, or simply contribute and help ensure that the translators are as high quality as they can be," revealed Jean Paoli, co-creator of the XML 1.0 standard and Microsoft's general manager for interoperability and XML Architecture.

"Turbolinux will optimize the translators for the Japanese and Chinese markets, for example, by providing better support for the use of multi-byte character encodings, and expect to use them to enable OpenOffice to read and write Open XML documents. Customers in Japan and China have always struggled with the disparities between the different encoding used in Europe and the United States and Asia. By resolving those issues and integrating Ecma Open XML support in OpenOffice, customers in Asia will be able to take full advantage of Microsoft Office suite and OpenOffice.org office suite in ways not possible prior to this effort," stated Mio Matsuda, manager, International Business Division, Turbolinux.

Microsoft's efforts to generalize the adoption and usage of the Open XML document standards reflect, in the end, nothing more than the need to fuel the Office business. Not only is Ecma Open XML the default file format 2007 Office System, but Microsoft has also offered Compatibility Packs for previous versions of the Office suite in order to backport the standard. And in aiming to achieve ISO ratification, Open XML will reach the same level as ODF, allowing Microsoft to leverage its brand new international standard in order to boost the Office System.