Novell to support Open XML format to advance document interoperability
WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Novell today announced
that the Novell(R) edition of the OpenOffice.org office productivity suite
will now support the Office Open XML format, increasing interoperability
between OpenOffice.org and the next generation of Microsoft Office. Novell
is cooperating with Microsoft and others on a project to create
bi-directional open source translators for word processing, spreadsheets
and presentations between OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office, with the
word processing translator to be available first, by the end of January
2007. The translators will be made available as plug-ins to Novell's
OpenOffice.org product. Novell will release the code to integrate the Open
XML format into its product as open source and submit it for inclusion in
the OpenOffice.org project. As a result, end users will be able to more
easily share files between Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.org, as
documents will better maintain consistent formats, formulas and style
templates across the two office productivity suites.
"Novell supports the OpenDocument format as the default file format in
OpenOffice.org because it provides customer choice and flexibility, but
interoperability with Microsoft Office has also been critical to the
success of OpenOffice.org," said Nat Friedman, Novell chief technology and
strategy officer for Open Source. "OpenOffice.org is very important to
Novell, and as our customers deploy Linux* desktops across their
organizations, they're telling us that sharing documents between
OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office is a must-have. The addition of Open
XML support reflects Novell's commitment to providing enterprise customers
the tools they need to be successful, from the desktop to the data center."
Chris Capossela, corporate vice president, Microsoft Business Division
Product Management Group, said, "This is further evidence to our mutual
customers that Novell and Microsoft have the same commitment to document
interoperability and customer choice for document technology. As a leader
in the open source community, Novell can help us make sure the Open XML
translation technology works well across different applications and
platforms. Novell has already provided contributions to the Ecma Open XML
standard, and this commitment to support the Open XML format via their
product makes it work for customers."
The Open XML format is an open standard file format for office
applications that can be freely implemented by multiple applications on
multiple platforms. The Open XML format was originated by Microsoft and
standardized by the Ecma International organization's technical committee,
TC45. It is presented for Ecma General Assembly approval on December 7,
2006, with the intention to offer the specification for formal ISO/JTC1
standardization. Open XML is the default format for the recently released
Microsoft Office 2007. The Open XML format is also available through free
updates to past Microsoft Office versions.
With an estimated 100 million users, OpenOffice.org is a full-featured,
open source office productivity suite with word processing, spreadsheet,
presentation and database applications. OpenOffice.org currently supports
the OpenDocument (ODF) file format, which is an ISO-standardized, XML-based
file format specification for office applications maintained by the open
source community. The OpenDocument format ensures information saved in
spreadsheets, documents and presentations is freely accessible to any
OpenDocument- supporting application. OpenOffice.org is available free of
charge at http://www.openoffice.org. Novell provides and supports
OpenOffice.org for both Linux and Windows* as part of its SUSE(R) Linux
Enterprise Desktop and Novell Open Workgroup Suite offerings, respectively.
The open source Open XML/ODF Translator project can be viewed at this
internet location: http://sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter.
Novell is a member of and an active contributor to both the OASIS Open
Document Format for Office Applications Technical Committee, the body that
manages and publishes the OpenDocument standard, and the Ecma International
Technical Committee (TC45) that develops, manages and publishes the Open
XML standard. Novell is the second-leading contributor to the
OpenOffice.org project.
For more information on the broader partnership between Novell and
Microsoft, visit http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft and
http://www.microsoft.com/interop/msnovellcollab.
About Novell
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) delivers infrastructure software for the
Open Enterprise. We are a leader in enterprise-wide operating systems based
on Linux and open source and the security and systems management services
required to operate mixed IT environments. We help our customers minimize
cost, complexity and risk, allowing them to focus on innovation and growth.
For more information, visit http://www.novell.com.
Novell and SUSE are registered trademarks trademarks of Novell, Inc. in
the United States and other countries. *Linux is a registered trademark of
Linus Torvalds. All other third-party trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
SOURCE Novell, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.novell.com
CONTACT:
Kevan Barney of Novell, +1-801-861-2931, or
kbarney@novell.com; or Amy Anderson of SHIFT Communications,
+1-617-681-1225, or aanderson@shiftcomm.com, for Novell
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