14 DAY TRIAL // Version 1.0 of the Open XML Document Viewer is now available for download, enabling users without Office 2007 or Office 2008 for Mac to access and view Open XML files as HTML in their browser. According to the Redmond company, v1.0 of the Open XML Document Viewer is designed to play well not only with its latest versions of Internet Explorer, IE8 and IE7, but also with rival browsers. In this context, the Open XML Document Viewer also works with Firefox 3.0.10 (3.0.x for that matter) and Opera 9.64 (9.x). The viewer is essentially a plug-in that integrates with the supported browsers on both Windows and Linux platforms and translates Open XML documents into HTML.
Open XML Document Viewer 1.0 “provides direct translation for Open XML Documents (.DOCX) to HTML, enabling access to the information in the Open XML format from any platform with a Web browser. The project, which already includes a plug-in for Firefox IE7 and IE8 and now also offers a plug-in for Opera, allows users to view Open XML documents (.DOCX) within the browser on Windows and Linux platforms without the need to install Microsoft Office or other productivity products,” explained Sumit Chawla, Microsoft technical PM/architect.
The Open XML standard is the default file format for the Office 2007 System, Office 2008 for Mac, and the upcoming Office 2010, formerly codenamed Office 14. By providing the viewer, Microsoft offers proof of its commitment to interoperability and, with the evolution of the solution, to allowing end users greater flexibility in accessing Open XML documents, independently of their platform and their productivity software.
The release of OpenXMLViewer v1.0 comes with the following list of features: “support for Document Themes; server side support showcase scenario website; support for more drawing shapes including Parallelogram, Trapezium, Diamond, Block arrows, lines, 5-pointed Star, Hexagon and triangles (right angled and isosceles); plugins for Opera 9.x on Windows and Linux; plugins/Browser Helper Objects (BHO) for IE 7 and IE 8b; performance tuning for server-side scenario and support for Math ML equations,” Microsoft revealed.
Open XML Document Viewer 1.0 is available for download here.