Microsoft embraces ODF

Good news for all. I wonder if this is a sign that MS is being pressured by open source alternatives. MS wouldn't invest the time and money if there wasn't some kind of market gain.
 
eltherza said:
Good news for all. I wonder if this is a sign that MS is being pressured by open source alternatives. MS wouldn't invest the time and money if there wasn't some kind of market gain.
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More a sign, I think, that MS is under pressure from corporates and govts that need an ISO format for document exchange.

While this is progress, I won't start sending out my documents in the format that God intended, .odf, just yet. :)
 
This could also be a wise step from Microsoft to ensure the future of the office suite.

If you are already proficient in office and can communicate with all of the open source software out there then there is no need for you to change to the open source field because it would be a new learning curve.

I see this as a progressive and smart move from Microsoft that will ensure their future for may years to come!
 
nictron said:
If you are already proficient in office and can communicate with all of the open source software out there then there is no need for you to change to the open source field because it would be a new learning curve.
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As a user of Office 2003 and 2007 and OpenOffice, there is less of a learning curve from Office 2003 -> OpenOffice, than from 2003 -> 2007, IMO.
 
But as soon as you learn Office 2007 it is like the old software was cavemen. This I know because all users rave about Office 2007 at our office.
 
Office 2007 has a nice reshuffled menu bar and buttons. Everything else is the same imo.

Suspect this will work against MS. One of the major reasons for buying their overpriced products is that "everybody uses it" so you need something compatible. Now that the compatibility issue is (hopefully) gone, there is little reason to drop R2k on something which has a free similar alternative.

Also, this will give ODF a massive headstart over OOXML in the race to become the dominant format.
 
I really support the inclusion of ODF. For one main reason, apart from the fact that M$ realises they ultimately cannot win the war against the Open Source Revolution. Now I don't have to save my documents in .doc(x) or .xls(x) or whatever anymore. Now I can save in my native openoffice format and be happy that other poor M$ supporters will be able to read my stuff.
 
Uh-huh. I don't trust Microsoft.

Groklaw doesn't either. Here's why : http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080522012330406

I wish I could wholeheartedly applaud the Microsoft announcement about native support for ODF, but I can't. Of course, it's better to have native support for ODF, no matter what motives may have influenced Microsoft's announcement, and I'm glad about that for the sake of end users. But it hasn't happened yet. Was the word 'vaporware' not coined for Microsoft? In any case, I'm in the "I will believe it when I see it" category when it comes to Microsoft. They've earned my caution.

And I see danger signs for FOSS I'd like to share with you, so you can consider them. Once again, the problem is software patents. Internet News indicates that commercial Linux/FOSS vendors, and the GPL license that Linux comes with, will be excluded:

Microsoft, however, frames its latest moves as part of fulfilling a company-wide interoperability initiative that it announced in February.

Uh oh. Remember this from February, when Microsoft announced the availability of APIs?

Going forward, Smith said that Microsoft will enter into a covenant not to sue open source developers who use the open APIs for noncommercial applications. Commercial developers will still need to obtain patent licenses to use the code.

GPL developers can't obtain patent licenses. That would violate the terms of the GPL. Period.

Like Microsoft doesn't know that.

But, you say, Linux is GPL'd and that's Microsoft's primary competition. Can it be that commercial vendors and the GPL will be exiled again from the "even" playing field everyone else gets to be on? Why yes. It appears so. Commercial Linux vendors need not apply. Or they can sell out.
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Jeesh, MS could give away their software and a free trip to disney land and you lot wouldnt be happy.

This OS thing they are doing is nothing new. They been roadmapping this for several years now. It started with their dev tooling and now they moving it into a more commercial domain. They are heavily community focused atm.

Of course they gonna want a piece of the pie if someone uses their IP to make money, they are still a business you know...it makes business sense, or are you so of the African mindset that everything must be free as some form of pennance for whatever?

You people need to step out of the 90's.
 
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