Microsoft 'Frees' Office Formats

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Richard Forno [rforno () infowarrior org]
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 11:06 PM
To: David Farber
Subject: FW: Microsoft 'Frees' Office Formats

Microsoft 'Frees' Office Formats
By Stuart J. Johnston
February 15, 2008

Microsoft this week officially gave developers the right to freely use code
and specifications for translating between its older proprietary Office file
formats and Office 2007's newer XML formats without fear of being sued.

At the same time, company officials must be sitting on pins and needles as a
key meeting over whether or not its newer formats will become an
international standard looms.

Microsoft officials announced today that they have placed the older Office
binary file format specifications for Word, Excel and PowerPoint (.doc,
.xls, .ppt) under the company's Open Specification Promise (OSP). The OSP is
a legal program whereby Microsoft promises not to sue developers who use
specifications that it puts under the program's aegis.

Documentation for the formats has been available by request on a royalty
free basis for a while, but putting it under the OSP gives developers cover
from lawsuits.

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www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3728596



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