Leave Microsoft now

Now is the time to start migrating away from Microsoft Office. Apparently, the Office 2003 XML file formats will be seriously crippled. To use the collaborative features you will have to save files in a proprietary format on a Windows XP platform using XP office connecting through XP servers. That’s interoperability the Microsoft way.

Now is the time to start migrating to the OpenOffice.org office suite. It runs on all versions of Windows, on Linux and on the Mac, happily imports your existing Microsoft Office documents and already uses an XML-based file format. Besides, it will support the new open XML format for office applications currently being developed by OASIS, a nonprofit consortium backed by big technology companies with the purpose to set open standards for desktop and business software.