Microsoft Unveils Its Secrets in Over 44,000 Pages of Documentation

Following the embarkation on a new course focused on interoperability, Microsoft has made available in excess of 44,000 pages of protocol documentation related to its high-volume products from the Windows client to the Office System and the server platforms. In the latest push designed to fuel open connections in accordance with the company's recently adopted interoperability principles, Microsoft added the preliminary versions of 14,000 pages worth of resources to MSDN. The new technical documentation is related to Office 2007, MicrosoftOffice SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

"Microsoft is pleased to announce today another step toward putting our interoperability principles into action with the public availability of these protocol specifications for Microsoft Office, Office SharePoint Server and Microsoft Exchange Server. We believe that providing open, consistent access to these protocols will further unleash the creativity of all developers to work on real-world interoperability solutions. The implementation of Microsoft's interoperability principles is an important component of our overall efforts to promote interoperability in the marketplace," stated Tom Robertson, general manager of Interoperability and Standards at Microsoft.

Access to the new documentation is completely free of charge and Microsoft is making public the protocols used in communications between Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Office client products; between Office SharePoint Server 2007 and additional server solutions; between Exchange Server 2007 and Office Outlook; as well as between Office 2007 and the company's server offerings. However, bear in mid that although access may very well be free, the usage of Microsoft's patented intellectual property is not. But the Redmond company is promising reasonable, nondiscriminatory and low royalty rates for its protocols.

"Today we are posting preliminary versions of protocol documentation for Microsoft Office, Office SharePoint Server and Exchange Server," added Jean Paoli, general manager of Interoperability and XML Architecture at Microsoft. "We are very eager to receive feedback from members of the developer community as they access this documentation over the next several weeks and months so we can use that feedback to improve our final documentation to be released in June."