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Why don't they just use the Open Document Format as their standard file format? This ISO standard is already implemented in most other major Office software (Open Office, AbiWord, KOffice, ...).

Hey Anonymous

main reason is pretty clear to me; Full Fidelity. Something which MS will not likely be able to achieve using a slow-moving body such as ODF. Also, do you think ODF will standardize on features available in MS-Word? Not likely. Finally, ODF is not a full standard. It leaves many areas open to interpretation which is *not* good for an open standard. (just look at the size difference in both OXML and ODF)

Maybe if Microsoft wouldn't refuse to join the ODF group, MS-Word features would make it to the ODF standard. But instead of co-operating with others, Microsoft develops their own 'open' file format: Open XML. Standards are crucial for interoperability .. sadly, the people at Microsoft see interoperability (with competitors) most of the time as a threat. If MS Office is 100% compatible with OpenOffice, a lot of people would switch to OpenOffice. With non-standarised (and often properiety) file formats Microsoft can lock people to their software.