A view of ODF from the other side
,----[ Quote of a quote ]
| ODF has a place and presents Microsoft with a dilemma. Since there is
| no decent plug-in to support ODF documents in MS Office, some users will
| find it necessary to download a free Office suite like OpenOffice.org just
| so they can open and save ODF documents.
|
| Microsoft really doesn't want people trying OpenOffice or other
| rivals, customers might start wondering why they are paying Microsoft
| for functionality they can get elsewhere for much less or nothing.
|
| Microsoft should swallow their corporate pride and provide
| in-built support for ODF, much in the same way that Office has opened
| and saved WordPerfect and Rich Text format documents for many years.
|
| ODF support in MS Office would benefit Microsoft customers and reduce
| the risk of them 'straying' out of necessity. Microsoft argues that ODF
| isn't widely accepted and their Office XML formats are better--but that
| didn't stop them supporting the WordPerfect format when it suited them.
|
| If Microsoft chooses not to support ODF in their Office products
| they will conspicuously not be able to work with an ISO standard.
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http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/1569
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