If you are a member of the Microsoft 365 Insider program, you can now get new beta versions of the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps for both Windows and Mac. These beta versions include support for the latest edition of the OpenDocument format, ODF 1.4.
In a post on the Microsoft 365 Insider blog, the company stated that with this change, ODF files in these apps will only be saved in the new ODF 1.4 version. Older files that were made and saved with ODF 1.3 and earlier versions can still be opened in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but when people save them in those apps, they will switch to the ODF 1.4 file version. Microsoft says that some of the older Office apps that supported the ODF 1.3 format can still open files saved as ODF 1.4, but they won"t be able to access the new features in the latest version.
All users have to do is open an existing file, or launch a new file in Word, Excel, and/or PowerPoint, and then go to the File section, and then click on the Save As option. They can then find the folder for the saved file.
After that they can click on the Save as type down arrow, followed by selecting the OpenDocument Text (*.odt) in the Word app, OpenDocument Spreadsheet (*.ods) in Excel, or OpenDocument Presentation (*.odp) in PowerPoint. They can then click on Save.
Microsoft listed some of the new features ODF 1.4 adds to each of these apps:
Word
- Tables in shapes: Tables are now allowed within shapes. Previously, only textboxes allowed tables.
- Lists from zero: Lists that start at 0 are now supported.
- Non-overlapping images and shapes: ODT files now support the option to prevent images and shapes from overlapping with other images and shapes.
- Number list formats: Previously, ODT files supported only a subset of the number list formats available in Word. Now, all formats are supported.
- Odd and even page breaks: If you add a section break and specify an even or odd page, that will now be saved to the ODT file.
- Additional writing modes: New writing modes have been added to the ODT specification. If you have certain languages enabled, you’ll be able to use them in tables and paragraphs where supported for .docx files.
- Decorative objects: A new accessibility attribute to specify that an object is purely decorative and may be ignored by assistive technologies.
Excel
- Error values: Minor adjustments were made for persisting error values to an ODS file.
- Filter by color: Added support to save color filter settings to an ODS file (with certain restrictions).
- Text direction: Minor improvements to load text rotated 90° clockwise or counterclockwise.
- Decorative objects: A new accessibility attribute to specify that an object is purely decorative and may be ignored by assistive technologies.
PowerPoint
- Page numbers: ODP files now support slide numbering starting from 0. Previously, support was only for values starting from 1.
- Table cell text direction: ODP files now support 90° and 270° rotated text direction within table cells.
- Decorative objects: A new accessibility attribute to specify that an object is purely decorative and may be ignored by assistive technologies.
Microsoft 365 Insiders in the Beta Channel can check out ODF 1.4 support in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with Windows on version 2404 (Build 17531.20078) or later or on the Mac apps with version 16.84 (Build 24041420) or later. There"s no word on when ODF 1.4 support will enter general availablity.