| Update on the MS Office ODF plugin |
Sep. 11, 2006
Although it appeared in May, 2006 that ODF functionality for Office was just around the corner, it turns out that users won't be seeing a production ODF (Open Document Format) plugin for Microsoft Office this year, after all.
In an interview with Groklaw's Pamela Jones, the OpenDocument Foundation Inc.'s co-founder and president, Gary Edwards said, "the Foundation has "completed testing on an ODF Plugin for all versions of MS Office dating back to MS Office 97. The ODF Plugin installs on the file menu as a natural and transparent part of the open, save, and save as sequences. As far as end users and other application add-ons are concerned, ODF plugin renders ODF documents as if it were native to MS Office."
Now, it seems, the Foundation's ODF plug-in won't be out until January 2007. In a discussion with Linux-Watch.com, Edwards said, "We're still on target for January 2007. If I read the recent Massachusetts update announcement correctly, the unit to unit production line implementation and testing of all ODF plug-in candidates is expected to run between November of 2006 and August of 2007.
Massachusetts is still on track to switch from proprietary formats like Office's formats to ODF. "We plan to implement ODF, using translator technology plugged in to Microsoft Office, in a group of early adopter agencies, including the Massachusetts Office on Disability, by January 1, 2007," said Louis Gutierrez, CIO of Massachusetts' ITD (Information Technology Division) in late August.
After implementing ODF at the early adopter agencies, Massachusetts plans "to migrate all Executive Department agencies to compliance with the standard, in phases, by June of 2007," Gutierrez said, but noted that these target dates "are not set in stone; they are dependent on a number of factors."
"The three ODF plugin proposals I'm aware of are: the Foundation's 'da Vinci,' Sun's OpenOffice tap, and Microsoft's 'translator.' In 2007 I expect all three to enter global evaluation and testing, with governments selecting whichever works best for them to meet the needs of the task at hand," Edwards added.
Edwards doesn't expect the Foundation to have any trouble delivering its da Vinci ODF plugin in time. "We've assured Massachusetts, California, and the EU/IDABC that we would welcome submitting da Vinci to their trials. Massachusetts has of course looked carefully at the various ODF plug-ins, and determined that this particular kind of approach solves some of the problems of migrating to an OpenDocument ready environment."
"I think one of the more interesting things to note is that these evaluation, testing, and trial initiatives are not so focused on policy commitments as much as they are on finding multiple solutions able to fill in the migration gaps," continued Edwards. "When Microsoft announced their "Translator" ODF plugin project, they truly changed the landscape for evaluating migration to ODF issues. So much so that the testing and trials in Massachusetts, California and the EU/IDABC can fine tune their ODF plugin choices to meet specific needs as they arise. The important thing is that in the near future, multiple solutions to many levels of ODF migration problems will be available."
However, Edwards doesn't see the Foundation releasing the plugin before the evaluations. "We don't expect any kind of public beta," said Edwards.
He also explained that the plugin has been in the works for several years. "The plugin began its life in early 2003 in discussions with OASIS Open Office XML TC representatives, Phil Boutros (Stellent), and Daniel Vogelheim (Sun). These early discussions were followed later that year by a public proposal from OpenOffice.org Writer architect, Jürgen Pingel." Additionally, there was no connection with Chris DiBona, open source program manager of Google, he said.
Instead, the credit should go to Phil Boutros, Daniel Vogelheim, and Jürgen Pingel. Additionally, "the Sun engineers who work on OpenOffice.org converters and file filters are a wonderful resource. Honestly, they have all the answers and Sun fully encourages them to build community through direct interaction based on extreme expertise. What they don't have is an interest in working directly inside WinWord or MSOffice. They only want to do better conversions of MSBinaries to ODF through OpenOffice.org/StarOffice."
Google, however, does feature in the Foundation's future plans for the plugin.
Edwards now says that the ODF translator won't be part of Google Pack. Instead, Edwards said, "We have never discussed with Google anything having to do with making the ODF Plugin a part of Google Pack."
Edwards added, "Here's the thing. Google Pack is a free download. It does an amazing job of preparing Win32 based desktops for life on the Open Internet. Google Pack even goes so far as to harden these insecure desktops so that users can traffic the great global infogrid without worry. Google Pack fixes many of the problems the average Windows bound user must overcome before they can fully experience the wonders of life on the Open Internet."
"We at the OpenDocument Foundation fully believe that the great herd of over 600 million Win32 desktop users should not have to rip out and replace their vested Windows desktop and MSOffice bound systems simply to experience the wonders Open Internet. Our ODF Plugin targets a meager 450 million of those Win32 bound desktops -- the ones bound to MSOffice productivity environments. And even though the ODF Plugin breaks the upgrade cycle of version madness, and enables users to transition to a truly open portable document file format without any loss of fidelity or disruption of current business processes, we really need the overall Win32 environment hardened and made Open Internet ready. After all, that's the environment the plugin must live in if it's to service the needs of the beloved 450."
Therefore, the Foundation, "would consider providing the ODF Plugin for free if we found Google Pack installed on a system. And, conversely charging an arm and leg if Google Pack was not to be found. We've even considered expanding this pricing model to demand that OpenOffice.org also be installed. But perhaps that's pushing it, (all 93 MB of it :)."
"There's another angle to this thinking that goes beyond pricing and service for the beloved 450. We also believe that Firefox is a very necessary component of any OpenDocument ready productivity environment. And, we believe with good reason that Internet Explorer 7.0 is a critically important part of an ODF killer alignment; a murderers row of integrated information channel components that stretches from MSOffice 2003-2007, through MSXML - MSECMA, to the Exchange-Outlook-SharePoint developers platform, and beyond."
"This alignment is an ODF killer, and Internet Explorer wields the ax. We need Firefox at the heart of the productivity fold."
So, it is that Edwards believes that "Firefox is just as important to the future of OpenDocument as the open XML technologies we share (XForms, XHTML, CSS, SVG, etc.)."
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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