Microsoft Office 2007 to feature some support for ODF

In a surprise announcement, Microsoft said that it will create tools to build a "technical bridge" between its own Office Open XML Formats and the Open Document Format (ODF) in response to government voices that requested such capability in Microsoft's next Office suite. However, the "translator" won't be a native feature of the software, but will be offered as a feely available open-source plug-in, that will have to be downloaded by users. In addition to the default Open XML file formats, the 2007 Microsoft Office system will include a new menu option that points users to add-ins for PDF and XML-based formats such as the XML Paper Specification (XPS), and now ODF as well.