Microsoft has announced that it will make XML the standard format for all Office programs when it releases Office 12 next year. Microsoft says this will mainly benefit businesses who need to tap into a variety of databases, and will discuss more details at TechEd next week.
The filenames for Word will change from .doc to .docx, while Excel (.xls) becomes .xlsx and Powerpoint (.ppt) will now be .pptx.
Steve Rubel says he wants a “Save as RSS” feature for Word, so people can publish all their documents as a feed. Scoble is excited and notes that files will now be 1/4 the size they used to be. He also notes that the Mac Office team will be using the new XML formats.
Channel 9 has a roundup and a video showing it off. One cool fact: All the files are actually .zip files, meaning if you change .docx to .zip, you can view all the guts the same way you would any .zip file. These formats are completely open and accessible to anyone, the first time Microsoft has done this.
Licensees will be able to integrate these formats into their servers, applications and business processes “without financial consideration to Microsoft,” according to the Redmond software vendor.
For users of older versions of Office – specifically Office 2000, Office 2003 and Office XP – Microsoft will make available software downloads that will allow them to read, edit and save using the new file formats. Microsoft also plans to release a conversion tool that will allow users to point to files in an older format and convert them en masse to the new Office 12 XML format.
Some Microsofties blogging about the new formats:
Microsoft Office Open XML File Formats announced
New Office XML file formats: Open, Royalty-free, and backward compatible
Dare Obasanjo
MS Office to Use XML File Formats
Brian Jones (program manager for Word)
Alex Barnett
Microsoft To Release Open Format for Office
New XML File Formats for Office 12
Office 12 : The X filesSo Whats there for Developers?
Links: New Office
Microsoft has announced
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Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.
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