Microsoft's backward route to ODF support

Microsoft announced Wednesday that it will support ODF version 1.1 in the release of Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2), scheduled for the first half of 2009. The company will also support PDF and XPS in Office 2007 SP2. OOXML, or Office Open XML, is partially supported in the current version of Microsoft's office productivity suite and, according to Microsoft's announcement, will not be fully supported in Office until the release of "Office 14," which as yet has no confirmed release date.

In Microsoft's announcement, the company said it is adding native support for ODF due to increasing pressure from customers "and because we want to get involved in the maintenance of ODF." The company now says OOXML support will require substantially more work.

Microsoft pushed OOXML through as a fast-track ISO standard, and OOXML became IS29500 in April. However, Microsoft on Thursday told ZDNet UK that the changes OOXML had gone through in the ISO ratification process made it more difficult to support OOXML than ODF in Office 2007.

"We already substantially support IS29500"--the OOXML specification that was recently approved by ISO/IEC members--"in Office 2007 and we've announced our plans to update that support in the next version of Office, code-named Office 14," a Microsoft representative said. "The ISO/IEC standardization process resulted in a number of changes to the Open XML specification. While developing our support for ODF requires a substantial amount of work, changes to existing file formats are often more complex than developing new code and therefore more difficult to implement due to backwards compatibility considerations."

Microsoft's director of standards, Jason Matusow, said Microsoft deciding to support ODF was not about one format beating another.

"This is not about any one document format 'winning'--it is about enabling customers to evaluate and use document formats that make the most sense for them," Matusow wrote in a blog. "It is that we want our customers to have the most positive experience possible when using our product."

Matusow added that Microsoft will continue to participate in Open XML, ODF, PDF, and XPS working groups.

"I know that the skeptics are going to spin theories about MS participation in these groups--but the reality is that we want the specs to continue to improve over time and facilitate interop(erability)," wrote Matusow.

One organization that has been skeptical about Microsoft's interoperability moves in the past has been the European Commission. Following controversy over Microsoft's conduct in pushing through OOXML as an ISO document standard, the Commission announced that it will probe OOXML as part of its ongoing antitrust investigation.

On Thursday, the Commission said it had "taken note" of Microsoft's ODF announcement and would investigate whether the move will improve interoperability.

"The Commission would welcome any step that Microsoft took towards genuine interoperability, more consumer choice, and less vendor lock-in," the Commission said in a statement. "In its ongoing antitrust investigation concerning interoperability with Microsoft, the Commission will investigate whether the announced support of ODF in Office leads to better interoperability and allows consumers to process and exchange their documents with the software product of their choice."

Some members of the open-source community were also skeptical about Microsoft's motives. Mark Taylor, founder of the Open Source Consortium, said Microsoft had "no choice" but to support ODF. He pointed to Becta, the U.K. government's adviser on IT in education, this year advising schools not to implement Vista due to interoperability issues. According to Taylor, pressure from the Commission and other policy makers has forced Microsoft's hand.

"Microsoft only does things when it has absolutely no choice, and here it has no choice," Taylor said. "Becta officially recommended that U.K. education doesn't upgrade to Office 2007, and referred Microsoft to the Office of Fair Trading over OOXML last October. The European Commission has confirmed its investigation into OOXML. We've known for a long time the direction the Commission is going, and it's getting more and more vocal."

According to Taylor, Microsoft supporting ODF is a sign both of economic and political pressure.

"If Microsoft doesn't support ODF, it will lose more," said Taylor. "There's also political pressure--in the U.K., central government and various government departments are looking into open source. It's a sign of the times."

Microsoft's not supporting OOXML until Office 14 was "very strange", Taylor added. "It really is left field. It does look like a tacit acknowledgment that the OOXML issue is too hot to handle. After all, the British Standards Institution is in the high court at the moment over it. Maybe this is a calming gesture."

Other members of the open-source community are also skeptical about Microsoft's move.

Pamela Jones, founder of Groklaw, said she will believe Microsoft is moving toward open source only when it provides more proof it is becoming genuinely interoperable.

"I wish I could wholeheartedly applaud the Microsoft announcement about native support for ODF, but I can't," wrote Jones. "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."

Tom Espiner of ZDNet UK reported from London.