Massachusetts will begin using OpenDocument as the default document format later this year as planned, but it will be sticking with Microsoft Office in the near term, the state's top technology executive said.
Standards body Ecma International has created a committee to standardise Microsoft Office document formats, handing the software giant a victory in an intensifying struggle over desktop software.
The International Organisation for Standardisation is unlikely to adopt Microsoft Office Open XML format, now that it has approved the OpenDocument Format, according to analyst group Gartner.
IBM has announced an upgrade to Lotus Notes that will include access to office productivity applications and support for the OpenDocument format.
Open Source Industry Australia Limited (OSIA) has welcomed Microsoft's move to create a "translator" that will allow people to use Office to open and save documents in the OpenDocument, or ODF, format.
Sun released StarOffice 8, the next version of its office productivity application that provides improved compatibility with Microsoft Office files, on Tuesday.
The company behind Web-based word processor Writely announced on Monday that it will handle documents saved in the OpenDocument format.
Microsoft says it's opening its Office desktop software by adding support for XML--a move that should help companies free up access to shared information. But there's a catch: It has yet to disclose the underlying XML dialect.
Microsoft intends to submit file formats for its new Office 12 applications to the European standards body ECMA International. The company hopes this will allay concern about its level of control over document formats.
Blocking old file formats in the Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3) release was meant to bolster security for Microsoft customers, but whether the new formats are any more secure than older ones is debatable.
The certification from ECMA -- formerly known as the European Computer Manufacturers Association -- marks a year of work for a technical committee set up to standardise Office Open XML.
Servers hosting the new version of OpenOffice.org have crashed, under the weight of demand for the latest version of the open-source office productivity suite.
Windows 7 and Windows Strata may be the stars of Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference next week, but the next version of Office has also landed a role in the production.
Microsoft's Mac unit is set to disclose this week that copies of Office 2008 for Mac are flying off the shelves at three times the rate of its predecessor.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has completed a deployment of Microsoft's new Office 2007 suite to 38,000 desktops a year after giving Google Apps the thumbs down.
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