News
ODF Add-in For Word 2007 Available
Open source group SourceForge.net is shipping version 1.0 of the OpenDocument Format (ODF) add-in for Microsoft Word 2007, the organization said in a statement.
The add-in, which enables users to open and save ODF documents in Word, rather than using Office 2007's default Office Open XML, is the first step in a road map to provide that capability to all of the Microsoft Office programs. The plan is to implement Excel and PowerPoint add-ins by the end of November, the statement said.
The project began last June, with funding from Microsoft.
Development work is taking place at French IT solution provider CleverAge and Sonata Software of India, and testing is being done by Dialogika of Germany and Aztecsoft of India.
The add-in can also be plugged into competing word processing programs that use ODF as the default format in order to open and save documents in Open XML.
“[The Word add-in] has been tested over Word XP, Word 2003 and Word 2007 in five different languages (English, Dutch, French, German and Polish) thanks to Dialogika and Aztecsoft,” according to SourceForge's announcement.
Work on the Excel and PowerPoint translators begins this month. Regular customer technology previews will be posted to SourceForge.net beginning in May 2007, according to Microsoft.
The ODF add-in for Word is available for download here.
About the Author
Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.