File Format Translator Available for Open XML, ODF

Published: February 7, 2007

by Alex Woodie

A piece of software that translates files between the new Open XML format that Microsoft is using in Office 2007 and the Open Document Format (ODF), an XML-based format used by Open Office, was made available for download at Sourceforge this week.

Microsoft committed to helping build the Open XML Translator last July as it was facing scrutiny from competitors and European regulators over its sharing of Office file specs. Nothing ever panned out with European regulators on the subject, but its competitors, gathered under the OpenDocument Format Alliance banner, have kept the heat on Microsoft over its plans to make Open XML the default file format in its productivity applications starting with Office 2007, and how that will effect user choice.

The ODF Alliance, which is made up of Microsoft competitors like IBM, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle, has lobbied Microsoft to adopt the ODF format with Office, and has accused the software giant of maintaining a proprietary standard in Open XML (despite the guise of "openness" in its name) that will shut out ODF users. Microsoft, for its part, said it looked at the ODF format, but decided against using it for technical and performance reasons.

So far, with Open XML Translator version 1.0, users have gained some interoperability between the two formats, but only for Word 2007. With this piece of software, users can open and save ODF documents in World 2007. Likewise, users of OpenOffice's word processing software can open and save Open XML documents.

You can download the Open XML Translator at sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter.

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