Sometimes, Microsoft amazes even me...
You may have seen the news that people like Russell Shaw discussed that there are some Mac incompatibility issues with Office 2007 file formats. I am confident that someone will come out with a fix like Microsoft did for Office 2003 and if not there is always OpenOffice as an option. On the mobile side of the house, at this time I am fairly certain there is currently no mobile device application that will read these native Office 2007 Open XML formatted documents. This includes Office Mobile on Windows Mobile devices, Documents To Go from DataViz, and the Quickoffice suite. Even the extremely powerful SoftMaker Office products need to be tweaked to support the new file formats. The ClearVue Suite is included with many Windows Mobile Smartphones, but I did not find any support information for Office 2007 there either. I am sure that developers are working on updating their program to work with Office 2007, but mobile device users will want to be aware they may have issues reading documents sent to them on the go at this time. Hopefully, at least the document viewers will get support quickly as that is a more common task on a mobile device, rather than full document editing.
And I admit to being very jaded when it comes to Microsoft...
Microsoft says this about the new format:
By default, documents created in the next release of Microsoft Office products will be based on new, XML-based file formats. Distinct from the binary-based file format that has been a mainstay of past Microsoft Office releases, the new Office XML Formats are compact, robust file formats that enable better data integration between documents and back-end systems. An open, royalty-free file format specification maximizes interoperability in a heterogeneous environment, and enables any technology provider to integrate Microsoft Office documents into their solutions.
The new Office XML Formats introduce a number of benefits not only for developers and the solutions they build, but also for individual users and organizations of all sizes.
Translation:
We have a new scheme, where we want to create a new "standard," that will create licensing opportunities for us to make more money.
Some vendors in the mobile space, have already beat them to the punch. Dataviz, the folks who make
Documents to Go, arguably the best handheld office suite on the market,
"You might think that the devices running Windows Mobile software would do the best job of handling Microsoft Office documents because both systems are made by Microsoft. Or you might imagine the BlackBerry was tops at this task because it is bought mostly by corporate computer departments, where Microsoft Office is the application software of choice. But in fact, the best devices for viewing and editing Office documents are those using the Palm operating system, such as the Palm Treo 650. That's because of a helpful third-party program, Documents to Go, from DataViz, which is packaged with many Palm devices, including the Treo."
- Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal
is charging a fee to purchasers of their new Version 9 software, for Office 2007 compatibility.... Before Office 2007 even ships, a fact that OUTRAGED buyers of the recent upgrade.
Palm Infocenter explains it this way:
Dataviz is offering a special pre-release price to customers of the Documents To Go 9 suite. For $19.99, users can purchase an advance upgrade to the next version of DTG, slated for later in 2007, to ensure full support for Microsoft's new Office 2007 Word, Excel, and PowerPoint file formats and attachments.Supposedly Office 2007's formatting changes will "break" compatability with previous versions of DTG which will necessitate the purchase of the latest version of DTG. Office 2007 is expected to be released in early 2007, shortly after the launch of Microsoft's new Vista OS.
Dataviz promises to automatically deiver this new version upon its 2007 release to all customers who elect to purchase this update now, claiming a 50% savings by purchasing the downloadable version of DTG in advance.
I just paid $50 for the upgrade to version 9, now I will have to shell out another $20 just to preserve compatibility. This is the way to lose customers. Dataviz has not announced if there will be other improvements in the next version of DTG, but unless they add support to Microsoft Office OneNote, I will not be buying the upgrade.
In fact, the only thing that keeps me using Microsoft Office 2003, over the in many ways superior, (And Free) Open Office... Is that I paid for Microsoft Office.
I have no doubt that the release of Microsoft Office 2007 will "break," many of the tools that advance users like myself are using. Plugins will stop working, application integration and customization will break, etc.
Many vendors who provide add-ons for the office suite will have to make a decision on whether to upgrade their applications and applets, and what if anything to charge. I believe at this point that I will PASS.
Posted by David A at December 6, 2006 03:44 PM
Filed Under
Tech | 843 Words
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