Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 25th Feb 2007 22:01 UTC, submitted by geert
"Microsoft Word users now can easily import and export to the OpenDocument Format. The StarOffice 8 Conversion Technology Preview, a plug-in for Microsoft Word 2003 that allows users of Microsoft Word 2003 to read, edit and save to the OpenDocument Format is now available."
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Member since:
2005-07-08
I suppose that's an important subset of the fact that there is no open reference implementation. These references to back-level MS Office functionality make it significantly harder to implement the specification, but by no means impossible. But would there really be any objection to this minor hurdle if Microsoft supplied an open reference implementation? I can't image it being very hard for a borderline-retarded person with an Internet connection to acquire a copy of every gold release of MS Office. Then it might take a week for a competent document suite developer to play around with the features referenced in the spec and characterize how each feature operates in the indicated version.
Compared with other structured data format specifications, OpenXML is certainly towards the top in sheer size and scope, but it's not terribly obscure, particularly because it is a text-based XML format designed to be compatible with one of the most popular software products of all-time. However, this is not just an specification, this is to be an internationally recognized standard for describing rich documents. It is simply too massive in size, scope, and world-wide socioeconomic implications to be adopted as a standard without an open reference implementation.