Microsoft said that future versions of its near-ubiquitous
Office productivity software will allow users to save documents not
just in its own proprietary formats but also as Open Document
Format (ODF), Portable Document Format (PDF) and XML Paper
Specification (XPS) files. These are standards operated by third
parties that many people use to avoid being tied into Microsoft
formats.
The European Commission is investigating Microsoft on two
counts, one of which is the claim that it is stifling competition
in the software market by failing to make its software and
operating systems interoperable with other people's systems.
The Commission said that it would need time to assess to what
degree Microsoft's concession affects its case against the
firm.
"The European Commission has taken note of Microsoft's
announcement on 21st May concerning supporting ODF in Office," said
a Commission statement. "The Commission would welcome any step that
Microsoft took towards genuine interoperability, more consumer
choice and less vendor lock-in."
"In its ongoing antitrust investigation concerning
interoperability with Microsoft Office, the Commission will
investigate whether the announced support of ODF in Office leads to
better interoperability and allows consumers to process and
exchange their documents with the software product of their
choice," it said.
Microsoft had previously issued a converter which allowed users
of its Office software to export documents in ODF, but it has now
said that it will fully integrate that ability into versions of
Office 2007 from early next year, alongside the ability to export
documents as PDFs and XPSs.
The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency
(Becta) last week filed a complaint with the European Commission
over interoperability, having first complained to the Office of
Fair Trading.
The Commission previously investigated Microsoft over its
interoperability and last autumn the Court of First Instance backed
its €497 million fine of 2004 over the issue. It announced its new
investigation in January of this year.
