News

• OOXML not suitable for Norwegian government, says study

  Microsoft's XML-based office document format, OOXML, does not meet the requirements for governmental use, according to a new report published by the Norwegian Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (DIFI).

• Danish parliament sets rules for open document formats

  The Danish Parliament has decided on a set of rules to which open document formats must adhere if they are to be used by state authorities after April 1, 2011, Denmark's Liberal Party said on Friday.

• Microsoft-led forum yields tools for OOXML interoperability

  A German organization plans to build a tool to help developers test whether software they're developing can support documents compatible with the latest version of the Open Office XML (OOXML) standard.

• Office 2007 SP2 supports ODF

  As expected, Microsoft on Tuesday began letting users of Office 2007 download Service Pack 2, marking a milestone in the company's document format battles with governments and other vendors.

• Microsoft tools build bridge between OpenXML, other formats

  Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a free plug-in for Firefox to translate Open XML documents, an update to its document translator and a toolkit for Java developers that was built under the umbrella of its Document Interoperability Initiative.

• More OOXML trouble as Norwegians quit

  Thirteen members of Norway's International Standards Organisation (ISO) body, Standard Norway, have resigned over the country's approval for the controversial Microsoft OOXML document format.

• IBM threatens to leave standards bodies

  IBM is threatening to leave organizations that set standards for software interoperability because of concerns that their processes are not always fair.