Microsoft Office fixes to allow rival formats

(seattlepi.nwsource.com) -- Microsoft Corp. will let users of its Office program work in rival document formats, accommodating competitors and fending off antitrust scrutiny, the company said Wednesday.

Users will be able to create files using XML Paper Specification, Portable Document Format and Open Document Format with the release of Microsoft Office 2007's package of fixes in the first half of 2009, Microsoft said.

The company has been making its software more open in response to a wave of European Union antitrust investigations. In January, the EU said it would investigate whether Microsoft is using its dominance in word processing and spreadsheets to hinder competition.

The European Commission said Wednesday that it welcomed any step Microsoft takes toward making its software work better with competitors' products. The EU will determine whether the Open Document Format in Office improves compatibility in its ongoing investigation, according to a statement.

The company won global approval of its Office Open XML file format from the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, in April. XML helps normally incompatible programs exchange information.

The Open Document Format was approved by the ISO last year.

Microsoft also said it will work with the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards and the ISO to develop future versions of the software and to make Microsoft programs more compatible with international, open-document standards.