Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox has blasted recent media reports that claim Microsoft has opened up its Office file formats. The reports state that Microsoft has reached an agreement with the state of Massachusetts to ease the licensing restrictions on its closely held Office XML formats. The compromise comes in response to the state’s new “Open Standards” policy, which, much to the chagrin of Microsoft, favors the purchasing of open source and open standards software. But Wilcox was clear in a recent posting to Jupiter’s Microsoft Monitor: “So there is no misunderstanding, Microsoft hasn’t opened up its proprietary Office file formats for general usage. Buzz about so-called open formats is little more than PR FUD. That’s my firm position on the subject.”
Oh well – it did sound too good to be true anyhow…

MS Office Formats Not Open