Microsoft-led group launches new Open XML-interop tools
A group of vendors led by Microsoft and aimed at fostering interoperability between different document formats has unveiled several tools to help people translate among documents created in Open XML and documents that use other file formats.
During a meeting of the Document Interoperability Initiative (DII) in Brussels this week, Microsoft and other industry leaders unveiled three tools to translate documents in Open XML, an industry standard approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for document formats that Microsoft originally created for its Office productivity suite.
The new tools were outlined in a blog posting by Peter Galli, a Microsoft senior open source community manager.
Open XML Document Viewer translates Open XML documents to an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) Web page, allowing readability of those documents on Web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, he wrote. A Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the tool is available on Microsoft's Codeplex site.
Another new tool unveiled at the meeting is the Open XML/ODF (Open Document Format) Translators Version 2.5, which improves translations between Open XML and ODF through templates and is available now on SourceForge as an add-in for Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and XP, Galli wrote.
Microsoft also has posted video demonstrations of these tools on YouTube. The Open XML Document Viewer video is available here, and the Open XML/ODF Translators demo is available here.
ODF is a document format that was approved by the ISO as a global technology standard before Open XML was. In fact, Microsoft's decision to create Open XML and then submit it as a standard rather than support ODF was a controversial one, which led the company to create the DII in March as well as undertake other interoperability efforts around the format. The ISO eventually made Open XML an international standard in April after a long, controversial approval process.
Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world
On Twitter now
open xml
Powered by Twitter
jfruh
Apple syncing patent can't come soon enough
pasmith
New Twitter features borrow from 3rd party clients
Esther Schindler
Open Source Changes the Software Acquisition Process
mikelgan
How to set up continuous podcast play on the new iTunes
David Strom
Five important Windows 7 mobility features
sjvn
Guard your Wi-Fi for your own sake
Sandra Henry-Stocker
Grepping on Whole Words
Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325
Join the conversation here
Quick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.
Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.
