Actually, I hear the new 2005/6 whatever new version of Office is supposed to adopt a new file format. I remember hearing something about XML. Either way, it'll be some sort of open format.
At the same time, though, I can understand the reluctance to switch. Do any of the open standards support VBA code? And do the open spreadsheet formats support the same formula functions? -----Original Message----- From: Sebastian Smith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 9:54 AM To: John Dell Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [RLUG] Massachusetts goes OpenDoc & PDF for govt officeproductivity On Mon, 26 Sep 2005, John Dell wrote: > I think this is quite significant, Massachusetts has decreed that all > government agencies must use open file formats. > > http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20050923142231938 > > *http://news.com.com/Massachusetts+moves+ahead+sans+Microsoft/2100-1012_ 3-5878869.html?part=rss&tag=5878869&subj=news > > It could be that we just witnessed the high water mark for MS Office... > IMHO, at best Microsoft would add support for open formats in the Office suite before a significant decline in sales occurs. Of course, they'll limit editing capabilities for those files so that users will rely more heavily on their proprietary formats... but it would be a start. I'm trying to institute a policy similar to Massachusetts at my office because I'm having several document compatibility issues. For example, in our conference room we have an iMac running OS 9.x that is capable of playing Powerpoint presentations stored in early formats. The "creative" department is also beginning to use Keynote, a presentation software by Apple that is designed to run on OS X 10.2.8+. The problems? A) Powerpoint cannot be used to its full capability because the new file formats cannot be played (if they are fonts/etc get all messed up), B) Keynote won't run on the conference room computer. Furthermore, when preparing a presentation to be given offsite, I find it naive to assume that the presentation you are creating in PPT, keynote, or OOo will display properly, or even be openable at another location. For that matter, it is also naive to assume that any document file will be displayed exactly as you see it at another location -- what if you used an odd font, or are using different versions of software. For these reasons I'm trying to push management into a PDF only policy. Users can continue to use the Office suite (or whatever they prefer) to edit their documents, but the end result must be in PDF format. The software to support this structure will cost more, but the end result will be less headaches. - Sebastian _______________________________________________ RLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.rlug.org/mailman/listinfo/rlug _______________________________________________ RLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.rlug.org/mailman/listinfo/rlug
