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How open is the new MS Office?

Daniel Fleshbourne   on 16 December 2002 - 15:08 · 12 comments & no views

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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.

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.

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News source: ZDNet


It added: "There is a very low probability that customers will encounter problems due to this error. The problem has not been seen or reported by any HP customer. However, because HP is strongly committed to delivering high quality products, HP is diligently workingwith Intel to develop an update to the affected processor. These updated processors will be distributed in a kit from HP in January 2003."

The firm said that kits should be ordered as early as possible and advises customers to contact their HP Itanium Centers of Expertise.

It won't charge for updated buggy chips, it said.

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#1 SHoTTa35 on 16 Dec 2002 - 15:10
i'm really loving Office 11 Can't wait for it to become final!! I wonder if this new outlook they have will have it selling like hotcakes...
#2 Tom Servo on 16 Dec 2002 - 15:15
The XML scheme is going to undergo a few changes for beta 2. That's why no info has been released about it.
(8 replies) #3 Jason on 16 Dec 2002 - 15:44
the XML format in Office 11 is NOT about being open, its about interacting with other MS products using the XML format like SQL Server etc. Also Office 12 is the real ".Net" Office version, I got this from PC Pro a computer mag in the UK, a journalist was writing about Office 11 which he saw at a MS press conference and a senior MS official said there that office 12 would be the real .Net version.
#3.1 SHoTTa35 on 16 Dec 2002 - 15:46
hehe, you know much huh... XML is a open standard. Hmm is that why you have -19 posts? LOL... i'm KIDDIN!!
#3.2 Jason on 16 Dec 2002 - 15:48
XML is only as open as the schema used.
#3.3 Tom Servo on 16 Dec 2002 - 16:10
Any clear text data storage is open. No matter what schema is used. If there is no info regarding to it, it will just involve a bit of guessing what tags do what and how. And besides of that, SQL Server gives a crap about XML. Only XML it does it returning query data in XML formatted files, and accepting inserts in XML format. Nothing else.
#3.4 JaggedFlame on 16 Dec 2002 - 16:43
[neoquote=#3.2 by Jason]XML is only as open as the schema used.[/neoquote] In addition to that, the XML used in Office is only as open as much as the other office suites support features. If someone used the blinking text feature in Office, and saved it as an XML file, OpenOffice would open it and not know what to do with it. Implementation's still a big issue.
#3.5 Jason on 16 Dec 2002 - 17:02
[neoquote=#3.3 by Tom Servo]Any clear text data storage is open. No matter what schema is used. If there is no info regarding to it, it will just involve a bit of guessing what tags do what and how. And besides of that, SQL Server gives a crap about XML. Only XML it does it returning query data in XML formatted files, and accepting inserts in XML format. Nothing else.[/neoquote] I was refering to the next version SQL 2003 more than the current version.
#3.6 Tom Servo on 16 Dec 2002 - 17:55
Still also applies to SQL 2003. Did you ever use SQL Server, or a database server in general?
#3.7 Jason on 17 Dec 2002 - 00:39
I am a Network admin but not a database admin, I intend on learning this, but I have very little knowledge of Server databases currently.
#3.8 Tom Servo on 17 Dec 2002 - 13:01
#4 Alien Venom on 18 Dec 2002 - 07:58
Outlook, no matter what version it is, is ass. It is the reason the internet sucks. The person who invented HTML in e-mail should die and as far as I know, there is no disabling it in Outlook. Here is an example of how bad Outlook is, and why people send you spam. Since Outlook supports HTML, it also supports the iframe tag, and beacsue it's an iframe, they associate the URL to your e-mail address. Even if you click on it and delete it, it'll still go to the URL. This verifies that the e-mail address exists. They will continue to send you spam. With Outlook, there is no end to spam. Change to Mozilla, use their Mail/Newsgroup program, and disable HTML viewing. Problem solved. Edit: Before any of you complain about how much of an "idiot" I am, mind you that Mozilla can turn off HTML without plugins. By defaullt, Outlook can only turn off HTML in e-mails that you SEND, not receive. Just my two cents...

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