To help foster interoperability among office productivity applications, Microsoft Corp. today published documentation detailing its implementation of OASIS Open Document Format (ODF) version 1.1 support in Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2, currently in beta and scheduled for release next year. Similarly detailed notes about the company"s implementation of Open XML (Ecma 376 Edition 1) in Office will follow in the coming weeks.
These implementation notes offer a comprehensive guide on how Microsoft is implementing ODF and Open XML within its flagship Microsoft Office suite. The notes, available at no charge on the Document Interoperability Initiative (DII) site, will be useful to developers seeking to enhance the interoperability of their solutions with Microsoft products.
Dennis Hamilton, document-system interoperability architect said that this is an extremely valuable contribution to the pursuit of grounded, practical interoperability among applications and raises the bar for transparent disclosure of how standard formats are supported at a detailed level.
Doug Mahugh, senior project manager for Office interoperability added that by publishing notes on how Microsoft is implementing file format standards in Microsoft Office, they are providing detail that others can use as a reference point for their own applications. Mahugh also mentioned that Microsoft encourages other companies to take similar steps to help achieve greater interoperability across the industry.