Goodbye .doc, Hello .xml
p2pnet.net News:- Microsoft says it’ll start using Microsoft Office Open XML formats for Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications, with the codename Office 12, due for release in the second half of next year.
“The company claims that the new file formats will provide better data interoperability, improved security, and reduced file sizes, and that in moving to the XML-based formats it is responding to feedback from its customers,” says Computer Business Review.
Or as Information Week puts it, “When Office 12 debuts next year, the default ‘save-to’ file format of the applications will be XML. Or at least a version which Microsoft is calling Microsoft Open XML Formats.”
So does that mean the demise of the familiar .doc extension?
Not according to a “company exec” who was “quick to note” that the new applications will also support the traditional binary .doc, .xl, and .ppt formats.
But unless yiu choose otherwise, your work will save to XML.
Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
See:-
Computer Business Review – Microsoft set to open office via XML formats, May 3, 2005
Information Week – Office 12 To Boost XML Support, Document Security, May 1, 2005
June 3rd, 2005 at 2:26 pm
Hello to huge text files…
June 3rd, 2005 at 2:33 pm
I think you meant the demise of the familiar .doc “suffix,” not “prefix.”
Oy!
June 3rd, 2005 at 2:34 pm
actually, it’s not a suffix either, it’s an extension
June 3rd, 2005 at 2:38 pm
In times with 200GB hard drives and broadband connections, I’ll take interoperability and human readable text over smaller proprietary binary formats. This was long, long overdue.
June 3rd, 2005 at 2:39 pm
You’re both right. Thanks : )
Conclusion: do NOT post in the AM until brain is fully loaded.
Cheers!
June 3rd, 2005 at 2:40 pm
Goodbye to every other program that can handle .doc .xls .ppt that you don’t have to pay as much for. Microsoft is not going to xml because people are asking for it. There doing it so all those open source programs that can handle their format wont be able to anymore. You’ll HAVE to pay their price now….
June 3rd, 2005 at 2:43 pm
Will they allow us to edit style sheets, so that we could have better control over the document?
June 3rd, 2005 at 2:55 pm
If Microsoft’s XML looks as Word’s HTML, other applications will need (as Dreamweaver already has) a “Clean Word’s XML” command.
June 3rd, 2005 at 3:02 pm
Do you not understand what XML is? This will allow anyone to create open source applications which interact with this data since it isn’t binary.
More free open-source applications will arise. Not less!
June 3rd, 2005 at 3:09 pm
Hmm. It would seem that saving files in an .xml format would make it so you could use vi or any text editor to edit Word documents. This make it very easy for others to write Office documents – all you really need is a text editor. I think it’s great that they’re stepping away from the proprietary file format.
June 3rd, 2005 at 3:31 pm
The FAT32 filesystem is supported by both Windows and MAC systems. The NTFS filesystem is proprietary to Windows. The major problem: XP/2000 will not format FAT32 hard drives over 32GB, but yet, Windows 98SE/ME have no problems with these large capacities.
Intentional ? Who knows !
Is it because Microsoft didn’t get the FAT filesystem patent ?
Is it because competition supports the FAT filesystem ?
After all, Microsoft did get a patent on the double-click mouse …
What lurks behind the XML format ? More proprietary software ?
June 4th, 2005 at 4:09 pm
Readers should be aware of what is driving this. The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) has approved the OpenDocument file format which is a compressed XML format that expresses all the functionality of office productivity documents. This vendor-neutral standard is maintained by the same folks who bring us ebXML and other critical standards.
Approval of OpenDocument v1.0 as OASIS Standard
http://www.digital-copyright.ca/node/view/833
As a reply to one of the other comments, OASIS format creates files that are smaller than DOC format in the default compressed mode.
The other issue to remember is software patents. While XML does provide for a format where some aspects of the structure can be understood, Microsoft has been applying for a large number of XML related patents that would be required to be licensed in order to interoperate. While Microsoft is claiming it will make these patents royalty-free, they have said the same thing of other documents and patents where they have clauses that exclude reciprocal Free/Libre and Open Source (FLOSS) Licenses such as the GNU General Public License which is by far the most popular FLOSS license.
Having another file format be the default for Microsoft Office will also drive people to “upgrade”. We have seen Microsoft use file format incompatibilities in the past to do this with their sometimes computer literate customer base that largely has still not fully understood what “save as” is.
This new format has no practical purpose other than as a vendor-dependent and likely highly proprietary distraction from the fact that most other office suites are moving towards a common vendor-neutral standard.
June 6th, 2005 at 1:50 am
Wrong. Microsoft has patented parts of their Xml. This is just another step in their way of looking open, but trying to destroy open source.
In the end, they are just delaying the inevitable, but still, they are screwing the people.
http://www.google.ca/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=microsoft+patents+xml&meta=&btnG=Google+Search
June 6th, 2005 at 1:52 am
well, so let MS product (if you insist on using their OS) just format the first 32 megs, then get into the OS and use some other program to format it.
The question is, will the OS still read it?? hmmmm
That being said, I have two 52gb fat 32 partitions, which I think I had from an old winME install… which I wiped and installed 2K over. So I guess I answered my own question….
June 6th, 2005 at 3:13 pm
Yes you will be able to edit it in vi, but don’t expect a pretty text file. I would expect it to be complex (ie, quite nested).