For insight into how Microsoft plans to drive upgrades of its nearly ubiquitous Office desktop application suite, talk to Jean Paoli.
While he doesn't work in Microsoft's Information Worker group, which oversees Office, Paoli does influence the development of the product. He's a co-creator of the XML data formatting standard, and as the senior director of XML architecture at Microsoft, he's involved with a wide range of products, including the development of Office 12 and the upcoming Longhorn edition of Windows.
Earlier this week, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Longhorn, due in 2006, will have a new XML-based document format, code-named "Metro," that will be used to both print and share documents. Printers that support Metro will be able to render documents created in Longhorn more quickly and faithfully, while users will be able to share files without needing the application that created them.
|