Microsoft Corp. announced the creation of the Open XML Translator project that will enable its Office suite to support the open-source OpenDocument Format (ODF). The move comes in response to government requests for Microsoft to make its products compatible with ODF, including the national governments of Belgium and Denmark, and the state government of Massachusetts.
The company said that the next edition of Office, Office 2007, now expected early next year -- will include menu options for XML, ODF and Adobe Systems Inc.'s PDF formats. The ODF support would include Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
A prototype of the first translator for Word's 2007 version is posted on SourceForge.net, a popular site for open-source development. It is available under the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) license, designed for open source use and revision of software without licensing fees, within general guidelines and principles.
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