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Microsoft bends on OpenDocument | |
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| Time: 00:53 EST/05:53 GMT | News Source: News.com | Posted By: Kenneth van Surksum | ||
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Microsoft said it plans to sponsor an open-source project to create software that will convert Office documents to OpenDocument, a rival format gaining ground, particularly among governments. The software giant on Thursday is expected to launch the Open XML Translator project on SourceForge.net, a popular site for hosting code-sharing projects that use the BSD open-source license. | ||
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| #1 By 2459 (24.175.137.81) at 7/6/2006 1:57:34 AM |
| More info here: http://blogs.msdn.com/brian_jones/archive/2006/07/05/657510.aspx |
| #2 By 37047 (216.191.227.68) at 7/6/2006 8:59:02 AM |
| This is good news indeed. And with the architecture they are using for pluggable filters, and the fact that the project is open source under the BSD license, anyone could take the ODF code, strip out the ODF specific stuff, and create a filter for any new file format that comes along, or old formats for historical reasons. |
| #3 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 7/6/2006 9:15:11 AM |
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This is funny, after they crowed loud & proud about how they'd never support ODF. But their pride is too big for them to climb down and just support it directly, so instead they'll sponsor one of their partners to do it.
"We're hearing that (customers) don't want homogeneity--they want diversity; they want translatability," Robertson said. Too bad that everyone has been telling MS this for a decade at least. But now that there's some competition, suddenly MS cares. |
| #4 By 2960 (68.101.39.180) at 7/6/2006 10:00:47 AM |
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Gotta go with Latch on this one. Microsoft doesn't historically care about something until they absolutely have to.
TL |
| #5 By 2459 (24.175.137.81) at 7/6/2006 3:41:03 PM |
| Latch is wrong however. MS never "crowed loud & proud about how they'd never support ODF". They always said it came down to demand from their customers as to whether they would support the format. They're now supporting it because of demand from some of their government customers. The issues with ODF and the case for producing OXML still exist nonetheless. |
| #6 By 13030 (198.22.121.110) at 7/6/2006 4:18:24 PM |
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#5: Just like no one wanted tabbed browsing for years...
#4: Bingo! |
| #7 By 2459 (24.175.137.81) at 7/6/2006 4:32:09 PM |
| Tabbed browsing was provided by numerous IE addons for years, and that has nothing to do with my refutation of Latch's post. |
| #8 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 7/6/2006 4:39:06 PM |
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I originally thought this was a good thing until I read a bit more on it. If MS strives to listen to the consumer, and believes in choice, competition, blah blah blah then why don't they bolt ODF support onto Office? Why some cheesy plugin?? Why indeed...
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060706064747376 http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1985410,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03129TX1K0000616 |
| #9 By 2459 (24.175.137.81) at 7/6/2006 4:50:08 PM |
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Because in the long term it's more useful to have a codebase that can be repurposed for other XML formats as they come along, not to mention newer versions of ODF. It's also uncertain if the translator will be finished in time for inclusion in Office 2007. It's also for downlevel versions of Office.
There's also the fact that because of Adobe's turnaround on PDF integration, PDF and XPS support will also be add-ons, so why include ODF when it can be acquired similarly to the other formats? The ODF plugin will be available from SourceForge, Office Online, and MS Downloads. http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonmatusow/archive/2006/07/06/658184.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/officerocker/archive/2006/07/06/658182.aspx This post was edited by n4cer on Thursday, July 06, 2006 at 16:54. |
| #10 By 32132 (64.180.219.241) at 7/6/2006 7:27:20 PM |
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"Why some cheesy plugin?? "
For the same reason PDF output will require a downloadable plug-in: ODF is encumbered by Sun patents on ODF, and Adobe has patented PDF. Neither are "open" standards in the proper sense of the word "open". They are owned by other companies. |
| #11 By 9589 (71.49.184.222) at 7/7/2006 1:17:18 PM |
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Oops! Bad news for open sore . . . again. Microsoft coops a "format" and all is well.
People will continue to buy Office by the billions of dollars. Next tempest in a teapot from the tinfoil hat crowd . . . |
| #12 By 13030 (198.22.121.110) at 7/7/2006 1:37:30 PM |
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#7: Tabbed browsing was provided by numerous IE addons for years, and that has nothing to do with my refutation of Latch's post.
Whatever you say chief. Analogies FTL. |
| #13 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 7/7/2006 3:01:44 PM |
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And it gets funnier. ACT, the lobby group that's really a front for MS, had this bit of hilarity:
'Mandating the use of a single standard throughout all government agencies and offices will hamper innovation and government effectiveness.’ Funny how they don't believe this when the single standard is Microsoft's. They were responding to EU governments who think MS Open(haha)XML is crap: 'But Europe says OpenXML cannot be open, by definition, because the formats were not developed in an open process and Microsoft retains control over their development.' |
| #14 By 2459 (24.175.137.81) at 7/7/2006 6:14:55 PM |
| Microsoft does not retain control over OpenXML's development. Ecma does. If approved by ISO, they will handle it's development. If Microsoft wants future format changes standardized, they'll have to submit them to the working group like everyone else, just as they do with C#, CLI, and C++/CLI, all of which are Ecma/ISO standards. Anyone asserting that OXML isn't open or is "crap" either doesn't know what they're talking about or is spreading FUD due to financial or emotional investments in ODF. There are over 40 organizations working on the standard, the specs are freely available, and OXML standardizes more data than ODF. |
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