State may drop Office software
State may drop Office software - The Boston Globe: "Massachusetts state government may stop using Microsoft Corp.'s popular Office software by 2007, unless the giant software company adopts a file format compatible with other software brands.
The plan is embodied in a draft report issued Wednesday by the state's Information Technology Division. The document isn't the last word on the matter; the state is seeking public reaction before the plan is finalized.
The state currently stores documents in electronic formats that were created by a variety of companies, including Microsoft. These proprietary formats are incompatible with one another, making it difficult to share information between agencies. In addition, a particular format may be abandoned by a software company at some point. If the state buys new software, it might not be able to understand files generated by older programs.
The report recommends that the state embrace a new document standard called the OpenDocument format, which was issued in May by a consortium that includes Microsoft, IBM Corp., Dell Inc., aircraft maker Boeing Co., and the US Department of Defense. The OpenDocument standard is used in OpenOffice, a free software program available over the Internet, and in StarOffice, which is sold by Sun Microsystems Inc. But any company can adopt the standard, which is available free of charge. Microsoft Office file formats are the property of Microsoft and cannot be incorporated into software from other firms."
The plan is embodied in a draft report issued Wednesday by the state's Information Technology Division. The document isn't the last word on the matter; the state is seeking public reaction before the plan is finalized.
The state currently stores documents in electronic formats that were created by a variety of companies, including Microsoft. These proprietary formats are incompatible with one another, making it difficult to share information between agencies. In addition, a particular format may be abandoned by a software company at some point. If the state buys new software, it might not be able to understand files generated by older programs.
The report recommends that the state embrace a new document standard called the OpenDocument format, which was issued in May by a consortium that includes Microsoft, IBM Corp., Dell Inc., aircraft maker Boeing Co., and the US Department of Defense. The OpenDocument standard is used in OpenOffice, a free software program available over the Internet, and in StarOffice, which is sold by Sun Microsystems Inc. But any company can adopt the standard, which is available free of charge. Microsoft Office file formats are the property of Microsoft and cannot be incorporated into software from other firms."
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