Hell Froze Over: Microsoft Offers ODF Plugin

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»Hell Froze Over: Microsoft Offers ODF Plugin

Microsoft released a ODF plugin for Word today. <a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1046_3-6155585.html">This means that Office can remain usable in situations that require open standards</a>.

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People can download the software, available under the open-source BSD license, for free from SourceForge on Friday. Microsoft intends to make the software available from its own Web site as well, the company said. The same group of Microsoft partners will now start work on code to translate file formats between Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet and PowerPoint presentation software and the corresponding ODF files, said Jean Paoli, the general manager of interoperability and XML architecture at Microsoft.

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For the price that you pay for Office, all of the programs should do this out of the box.

That being said, it must be some kind of paradox that Microsoft is willingly doing so.

Okay, but what's the catch? Are they going to offer a must have that co-partner's the program?

The catch is that Novell will be offering Open XML support in their OpenOffice.org - the code will probably flow into Sun's main code base. So migration is easier both ways, and guess who has more marketing money available ?

You know what this mean, it's time for ODF, the Microsoft version. When Microsoft says they embrace a format, it means means they create a non-standard implementation that:

1) Add's their own non-compatible features, usally reimplementing existing things in an awful way
2) The standard conforming document's won't work

... just like what they did with java (except sun sued them and MS was forced to remove their VM in XP SP1a)
... just like what they did to html, css, and javascript
... just like what they did to SMB (what netbios and windows file sharing is based off)
... just like what they did to RPC

Embrace and Extinguish .Net edition

Said By matrixhax0r

Embrace and Extinguish .Net edition

Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish...

There, fixed it for ya. Welcome back to the site.

I dont give a shit what Microsoft Office does. Open office is better, AND its free. Zing!

I found both have creative limits as a writer who designs and formats his own books.

I consider the format separate from the content. Though, I can see the importance in a book.

For serious typesetting, especially for books, do not use *Office or *Word, use LaTeX. Content/style seperation ftw.