Microsoft's embrace of ODF cautiously welcomed

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Standard to be included in upcoming Office service pack

By Jeremy Kirk | London | Monday, 2 June, 2008

Microsoft's support for the OpenDocument Format (ODF) could mean greater opportunities for software makers already using the format, some say.

Microsoft will include native support for ODF as part of its next service pack for Office 2007, due out by the first half of 2009. The surprise decision came as Microsoft faces continued regulatory scrutiny from the European Commission over interoperability concerns.

The Commission said in a statement last month that it welcomes steps Microsoft takes towards "genuine" interoperability and that it would analyse the latest announcement to see how it impacts consumers' software choices.

In January, the Commission opened two new antitrust investigations against Microsoft concerning the interoperability of Windows with other software and the company's practice of bundling software products with Windows.

At least one office software maker thinks Microsoft's turnaround on ODF will mean more flexibility for software buyers. The ability to save in ODF in Microsoft Office could give users more confidence to switch to OpenOffice.org, a free open-source suite, says John McCreesh, spokesman for OpenOffice.org.

"The whole purpose of having an open standard is to give people freedom of choice," McCreesh says. "It means we have a level playing field, which is what it's all about."

Of course, those users could migrate to Microsoft from OpenOffice.org, too, McCreesh says.

A looming concern is if Microsoft's implementation of ODF within Office will handle documents with the same or better performance as competing suites. Microsoft has been criticised for embracing a particular standard but using subtle means within its software to subvert it.

Those concerns aside, one organisation that has been particularly critical of Microsoft also welcomed the news. Wider user of ODF through Office could also give a boost to competing operating systems such as Linux, says the Free Software Foundation Europe.

"The move to support ODF, if genuine, would remove one of the most effective barriers for migration to GNU/Linux on the desktop," wrote Georg CF Greve, spokesman for the organisation, in an email. "The Microsoft desktop monopoly would be unlikely to continue in such a situation and millions of computer users would enjoy genuine freedom of choice," he said.

Despite years of bitter criticism, Microsoft resisted putting native support for ODF in Office, instead supporting projects to create translators. Sun Microsystems developed one of those translators, which allows users to save in ODF in Microsoft Office 2003.

Microsoft also chose to push its Office Open XML (OOXML) format, which was approved by the ISO in April. Opponents of OOXML say Microsoft's specification would unnecessarily splinter and complicate office software productivity products.

Microsoft said last month that it would not implement ISO standard 29500, as the approved OOXML version is known, in Office 2007 but would include it in the next version of the program, known as Office 14.

That means ODF will have a few years' head start on the ISO's approved OOXML standard. Microsoft hasn't set a date for release of Office 14. Office 2007 was released first to business users in November 2006.

In the meantime, ODF could gain wider support, says ODF supporter Andrew Updegrove, an open-source and open-standards lawyer with Gesmer Updegrove in Boston.

"Given the quality of open-source office suites such as OpenOffice... the frequency of ODF-based files popping up in the work flows of Office-based shops can now be expected to increase much more quickly," Updegrove wrote in an email commentary.

Microsoft's latest move may help put out other fires. A British government agency filed a complaint with the European Commission last month alleging Microsoft impedes the exchange of files between Office 2007 and competitors' products.

The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA), which advises British schools on technology, recommended in January that schools not upgrade to Vista and Office 2007.

BECTA has also called on Microsoft to make its products more interoperable, as well as putting "built-in and effective" support for ODF in Office 2007.

BECTA says it will examine Office 2007 after it has been upgraded. "If necessary we will update our advice to schools and colleges," the agency said in a statement.

IBM, one of Microsoft's fiercest critics during the OOXML deliberations, praised Microsoft's new stance on ODF.

"They will definitely benefit form being able to address this support requirement in the marketplace," says Bob Picciano, general manager and head of IBM's Lotus software and collaboration business.

But Picciano says he hopes Microsoft is serious about contributing to the development of ODF as Microsoft has pledged.

Microsoft's closest competitor in the office software space, Corel, also recently decided to included ODF support.

The latest version WordPerfect Office X4, released in April, adds support for ODF as well as Microsoft's version of OOXML included in Office 2007, says Greg Wood, communications manager for WordPerfect Office. So far, Corel's customers have been more interested in OOXML support than ODF, Wood says.