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Software Makes 'Word' Open Source

Techtree News Staff, Feb 05, 2007 1135 hrs IST

The 1st phase of a Microsoft-sponsored project to create software to convert Microsoft Word documents between Open XML and ODF is complete.

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According to reports, developers have completed the first phase of a Microsoft-sponsored open source project to create software that can convert Microsoft Word documents between Open XML and OpenDocument Format (ODF) for Office Applications file formats.

The software, the Open XML Translator, which is now available for free download in version 1.0, allows Microsoft Word documents based on Open XML to be translated into ODF and vice versa. And once downloaded, it can be used as a plug-in for Microsoft Office 2007, the documents of which are based on Open XML.

The Translator may also be plugged into competing word processing programs that use ODF as the default format to open and save documents in Open XML.

Speaking on the occasion, Tom Robertson, General Manager - Interoperability and Standards, Microsoft, said, "We believe in delivering interoperability by design, in this case, by working with partners and members of the open source community, we have achieved that goal. The translator project has been built to be independent of any one application, and has proved to be useful for both Microsoft and our competitors in solving an interoperability challenge for customers."

The 1.0 release of the Translator supports the current industry-standard document formats of both Open XML and ODF. Besides, it has been tested on Microsoft Office 2007, Office 2003, and Office XP, and has been localized into Dutch, French, German, and Polish.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the Translator project, including Translators for Spreadsheet (Microsoft Office Excel) and Presentation (Microsoft Office PowerPoint), will begin sometime this month.

Regular customer technology previews will be posted to SourceForge.net beginning May this year, and the final versions are scheduled to be available for customers in November this year.

USER COMMENTS

dfgsdfg

by Anonymous, sgs, on Feb 20, 2007 12:52 PM, Report abuse Reply

i would like to know latest product

by C.Wattsun, Bangalore, on Feb 06, 2007 10:29 PM, Report abuse Reply

So?

by SoGuy, Mumbai, on Feb 07, 2007 03:08 PM, Report abuse

OpenXML has a whole host of proprietary extensions that cannot legally be included in any Open Source system. For this reason, there is no guaranteed conversion - some OpenXML documents will never be fully convertible. This is why OpenXML must not be allowed to become a standard.

by Charles Oertel, Cape Town, on Feb 06, 2007 01:27 PM, Report abuse Reply

Happy to downlode this 0.1,Version, will waiting 4r more update version.

by Syed Baba Fakhr, Hyderabad, on Feb 06, 2007 10:46 AM, Report abuse Reply

Happy to

by Murugan Narayan, mumbai, on Feb 06, 2007 09:51 AM, Report abuse Reply

I am Surprised at the heading... has TT completely Lost it or what... Word & open Source??? comon people atleast remember that you are paid salaries & try to write the worth of what you are paid for..

by Gadgetguy, Hyderabad, on Feb 05, 2007 08:47 PM, Report abuse Reply

That is a very bad headline. Word is not open source by any means. The plugin just adds support for competing products that are Open Source.

by Roy Schestowitz, , on Feb 05, 2007 08:11 PM, Report abuse Reply

OpenXML isn't an industry standard, (it's currently in the proposal stage) and this project does not make word open source. This is simply a plugin, which is not even open source. At best, it allows some microsoft customers to interact with people who are using the ODF ISO standard. The title of this article is rather misleading.

by Anthony, Vancouver, on Feb 05, 2007 12:16 PM, Report abuse Reply

I completely agree wid you anthony the title is indeed misleading

by mahu, Mumbai, on Feb 05, 2007 07:42 PM, Report abuse