OpenDocument Format Alliance adds search giant to member list, touting application-indifferent document-reading skills.
Google has joined the lobbying group supporting the use of the OpenDocument file format (ODF), designed to challenge the proprietary data formats from Microsoft.
Google has put its considerable lobbying and financial weight behind the Washington-based ODF Alliance, as the battle lines between Google and Microsoft draw closer….Microsoft is already worried that the free web-based productivity services offered to users by Google are a threat to its paid-for desktop applications.
The group, the OpenDocument Format Alliance, was formed to solve the problem of users getting locked out of files when they are using an application other than the one the document was created with.
Google recently acquired the Writely, an online word-processing program, which allows multiple users to create and edit the same document in real-time through their web browsers. This program works to the ODF standard too.
Writely is seen as a possible challenger to Microsoft’s dominant Microsoft Word program.
Google, joined the roster of 240 ODF Alliance members recently, Marino Marcich, managing director of the ODF, stated. The ODF Alliance, which include IBM, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat and Novell, along with a number of government bodies.
Google also unveiled its Google Spreadsheets application last month, but has not said whether that program will support ODF. Company spokespeople did not return calls and e-mails seeking comment.
ODF is an open XML file format that is already being adopted by the state of Massachusetts in the US, and by governmental bodies in Denmark, Belgium and India.
These governments have all expressed concern that solely relying on Microsoft software may make it harder in the future to freely distribute data to employees and the wider public, because of licensing and technical issues.
The search giant has now joined an organization that warns of the perils of data lock-in as a result of using data formats in Microsoft applications.
Although Microsoft Office document formats are the most widely used, the XML-based OpenDocument Format has emerged as an alternative with backing from IBM, Sun Microsystems and others, as well as high-profile government customers in Massachusetts and Belgium.
Microsoft recently launched the Open XML Translator project so developers can create software that will convert Microsoft Office documents to OpenDocument, so they can be opened and saved in the OpenDocument Format.
“Google is a major player obviously and a tremendous boost to the alliance,” which launched with just 36 members in March, he said. It demonstrates the depth and growing support behind the ODF.
When a company like Google puts its name behind any effort to promote OpenDocument Format it is a sign that it is not just a technology on the move, but one that is arriving very rapidly, said Will Rodger, director of public policy at the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA).
If Google includes ODF support in Google Spreadsheets and finds a role for ODF in Gmail then you are talking about a significant number of users who will be using and creating documents in that format, he said.
The support for the ODF Alliance is a natural fit for Google, however, as it already distributes the OpenOffice.org open source productivity suite to users. This suite integrates with the ODF standard.
Stephen O’Grady, an analyst at RedMonk, said Google’s support could bring a large user base.