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2006

Microsoft Expands Document Interoperability

July 1, 2006 0

Company to Sponsor Open Source Project for Open XML-ODF File Translation to Deliver More Choice for Government Customers and Their Constituents

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 project is in response to government requests for interoperability with ODF because they work with constituent groups that use that format. In addition to being made available as free, downloadable add-ins for several older versions of the Microsoft Office system, the translation tools will be developed and licensed as open source software, the Redmond, Washington-based company said.

Microsoft also said the translation tools will be broadly available to the industry for use with other individual or commercial projects to accelerate document interoperability and expand customer choice between Open XML and other technologies.

Although Microsoft Office document formats are the most widely used, OpenDocument has emerged as an alternative with significant vendor backing and with high-profile government customers in Massachusetts and Belgium. OpenDocument is an XML-based format developed under the standards group OASIS, or the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards.

The decision to manage the project is something of a reversal for Microsoft. Until now, it said that it would not natively support OpenDocument in Office, citing lack of demand. Instead, it would rely instead on third parties for format translators.

"By enabling this translator, we will make both choice and interoperability a more practical option for our customers," said Jean Paoli, general manager of interoperability and XML architecture at Microsoft. We believe that Open XML meets the needs of millions of organizations for a new approach to file formats, so we are sharing it with the industry by submitting it, with others, to become a worldwide standard. Yet it is very important that customers have the freedom to choose from a range of technologies to meet their diverse needs."

Microsoft is not seeing a sharp uptick in demand for OpenDocument, but government customers urged the company to provide interoperability between Microsoft’s own forthcoming XML Office formats and OpenDocument, said Tom Robertson, the general manager of interoperability and standards at the software giant.

"We are hearing that customers do not want homogeneity–they want diversity; they want translatability," Robertson said. "And some customers are saying they would like us to focus on this to a certain extent, to make sure the product is high quality."

Interoperable by Design
Open XML and ODF were designed to meet very different customer requirements. By developing the bidirectional translation tools through an open source project, the technical decisions and tradeoffs necessary will be transparent to everyone — Open XML and ODF advocates alike.

Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint already include built-in support for dozens of formats to enable interoperability across products. In addition to the default Open XML file formats; the 2007 Microsoft Office system will include a new menu option that points users to add-ins for PDF and XML-based formats such as the XML Paper Specification (XPS), and now ODF as well. Because these add-ins are available online from a download service, customers will have easy access to the latest industry file format options along with the comprehensive Open XML formats.

The Open XML formats are unique in their compatibility and fidelity to billions of Office documents, helping protect customers’ intellectual investments. Open XML formats are also distinguished by their approach to accessibility support for disabled workers, file performance and flexibility to empower organizations to access and integrate their own XML data with the documents they use every day.

Conversion Schedule
The Open XML Translator project intends to release a prototype of software that will change Word documents to OpenDocument, and vice versa. The goal is to have a Word plug-in for Office 2007 by the end of this year and translators for Excel and PowerPoint next year, said Paoli.

In contrast, ODF focuses on more limited requirements, is architected very differently and is now under review in OASIS subcommittees to fill key gaps such as spreadsheet formulas, macro support and support for accessibility options. As a result, certain compromises and customer disclosures will be a necessary part of translating between the two formats.

The conversions will be based on Microsoft’s Open Office XML, the XML-based file formats that will be the default setting in Office 2007, due next year. Microsoft is seeking to make Open Office XML an Ecma International standard by the end of this year, Paoli said.

"Interoperability is a key priority of the government in the e-governance paradigm. Our ability to meet the needs of citizens will be greatly increased by the interoperability and integration of open, XML-based standards," said M. Moni, deputy director general of the National Informatics Centre, who is spearheading the process of e-government standards in India. "It also empowers citizens to use the software of their choice. So, we are very pleased to see Microsoft take a responsible and open, yet practical, approach to our interoperability requirements."

Because Open Office XML is backward-compatible, the translator will work with older versions of Office, Paoli said. However, he said that because the two standards are significantly different, perfect document translation is not possible.

Electronic document translation between different fixed formats is always going to be somewhat inexact, said Andrew Hopkirk, director of the UK’s National Computing Center’s e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) program.

Like human language translations, concepts and specifications will differ in detail, Hopkirk said in a statement released by Microsoft.

"This tool promises to be a very significant development in the trend toward practical open document standards and, critically, customer-friendly means to move between them," he said.

Working with Industry Partners
Microsoft is developing the translation tools in collaboration with the France-based IT solution provider Clever Age and several independent software vendors, including Aztecsoft in India and Dialogika in Germany.

France-based Clever Age is writing the code and will participate in the project. Aztecsoft in India is testing the software and Dialogika in Germany will test it to meet European Commission customer requirements.

A prototype version of the first translator added to Word 2007 will be posted soon on the open source software development Web site SourceForge ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter), under the open source Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) license, where anyone can submit bugs and feedback or contribute to the project.

The complete version of the Word translation tool is expected to be available free from the download site by the end of 2006, with add-ins for Excel and PowerPoint expected in 2007. Older versions of Office will have access to the translation tool via a free Compatibility Pack, which also provides free updates to enable Open XML format support.

Paoli said that Microsoft is managing the project and providing some resources.