How open is the new MS Office 11 ?

By Joe Wilcox

Microsoft says it's opening up its Office desktop software by adding support for XML--a move that should help companies free up access to their shared information. But there's a catch: Microsoft has yet to disclose the underlying XML dialect that it's using.
The software giant intends to make Extensible Markup Language (XML) a supported file format--in addition to existing proprietary formats--for its upcoming Office 11 desktop software, which is in the hands of about 12,000 beta testers. XML is a widely used standard for Web data exchange.
With the Office 11 update, Microsoft is allowing files saved in the XML format to be viewable through any standard Web browser. That's a big change from the company's previous stance of using only proprietary file formats. But Office's XML support will allow larger companies to extract and use data from documents more efficiently, according to Microsoft.

However, Microsoft has yet to disclose the proprietary dialect--or underlying schema--of the XML used in Office 11. Unlike HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) tags, which are universal, XML tags can be customized by developers and so need to be communicated to the software that reads them. The XML tags that define the elements of a document are collectively called a schema.
The software maker says it plans to disclose additional information on Office 11's XML schemas, possibly when the update ships next spring. Right now, a limited number of beta testers have access to some schema information. But it's unclear how complete the information Microsoft intends to release will be. Whether the company will disclose enough to allow interoperability with competing programs, and whether the schema information will be governed by licensing terms, are still unknown.

If Microsoft doesn't divulge those XML schemas, people who want to edit files created in Office 11 will only be able to do that with Office itself, as before. Text in Office 11 files stored in XML format might be viewable in other desktop programs, but all document formatting would be lost and most other files would be unreadable.
The move could also hamper data exchange with competing desktop productivity software that recognizes XML, such as Corel's WordPerfect or Sun Microsystems' StarOffice, say analysts and competitors.
Shawn Prince, a network administrator from Columbus, Ohio, outlined two options for Office users under Microsoft's strategy. "My understanding of the future adoption of XML within Office is this: All Office products will output to an XML file, which would be viewable via any browser, but editable only from within the originating office application--or by a very, very skilled XML programmer.
Ultimately, Microsoft has no incentive to support an open XML approach to office productivity software and has many good reasons to prevent such a move, said analysts.

"Microsoft would lose a lot of money," Rischel said. "Right now, Microsoft can set the price of Office products based on knowing their large clients don't have an alternative." Open formats "would create a market for other products" and competitive pricing.

Rischel said that corporate data locked in Microsoft file formats is a huge industry problem. But he added that there is a potential solution, if customers react before Microsoft releases Office 11 next summer. "If these companies really want to not have the files and resources locked up in files in proprietary formats, the best they can do now is support efforts like the OASIS effort," he said.

Whatever Microsoft's plans are for its XML support, some Office users see it as a limitation and are prepared to look for alternatives. Jason Carr, an IT specialist based in Columbus, Ind., believes that "Microsoft uses proprietary schemas to make it difficult for competing products to read files. I'm in complete support of someone creating a standard, but I believe it should be an open standard, and not proprietary. I would be curious to (know) what other products are available or will be available to compete against Microsoft."