XML file format in Microsoft Office 12

XML file format in Microsoft Office 12

XML is an open standard. This means that anyone can write applications supporting this standard and this makes it easier for the companies to work with data in different applications and work environments. Critics are calling this step revolutionary. More so because MS Office is one of widely used Office Suite around the world, and the move means a major change of policy for the company.

The company has never allowed free access to their document standards. Competitors in the Office Suite market like OpenOffice had to develop their own ways to support the file formats of MS Office. Compatibility as a result has always remained a problem in complex work environments especially when the company does not release a version of Office for the Linux platform.

Moreover, the recently released financial reports from the company suggest that fewer companies are switching on to newer versions of the MS Office software. The growth in this segment is minimal and the corporations find it unnecessary to spend on upgrading their older versions. The company as a result needs something special in the next version to entice these customers.

This also made the company change its mind about releasing the next version of Office for the Longhorn edition only. Office 12 is expected to support Windows XP platform when it is released in the retail market. Apparently, the delay with the next Operating System Longhorn is making it tough for the company to follow their earlier decisions.

The company would however have to make sure that the older versions of the MS Office suite continues to support the latest versions of these file formats or otherwise it would end up offending more customers. In the end, the move is quite complicated for the company as it struggles to invoke interest in their forthcoming software launches and still manage to keep revenues flowing in.