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Microsoft Pledges Conditional Support for ODF
Macthorpe writes "BetaNews is reporting that Microsoft has announced in a letter that they will support ODF as a format option, if it doesn't 'restrict choice among formats'. Citing their lack of opposition to the ratification of ODF as a standard, they go on to say: 'ODF's design may make it attractive to those users that are interested in a particular level of functionality in their productivity suite or developers who want to work that format. Open XML may be more attractive to those who want richer functionality [...] This is not to say that one is better than the other — just that they meet different needs in the marketplace.'"
A format richer.... with bugs!
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Microsoft Will Support ODF If It Doesn't 'Restrict Choice Among Formats'
:(
It is very noble of Microsoft to complain about all these restrictive document format that seem to be so pervasive in the IT world. I applaud them for looking out for my interests and freedom to choose. I have to say though, I am a little worried about them. All this goodwill stuff is well and good, but I can't help feel that until they start to get a little bit more militant about protecting their own IPR and file format, their business will never get off of the ground!
in Airplane II where the warning light is flashing with a man with a shovel behind a bull.
"richer functionality" = setSpacesLikeWord95
Not true. The other tools for interoperability are luck and magic. But they don't work as well as standards.
IOW, just as in the opearting system business, their office suite business is hampered by backwards compatibility with everything else they've ever produced?
Wow! I am shocked! *gasp*
My blog
Dude, you'll be the laughing stock at the family reunion picnic if you send the announcement in a format like ODF. Grandma will be like, "Your announcement just doesn't have the richness I have come to expect from documents I usually read."
You're Powerpoint-type presentations at the office just won't have that flair when you put up six words on a huge projector. The senior vice-president of foozlages will get all up in your grill and stuff.
So sure, go ahead and save a document in ODF. Microsoft can't help you if it looks like crap.
You can always tell a Java program on Windows because it breaks every paradigm that a windows user is used to. The buttons look different, act different. Menus look weird and act weird. Nothing does what you expect.
Are you trying to say that IE 7 was written in Java?