September 1, 1997
Microsoft should open Office 97 file formats to the public domain
By Bob O'Donnell
I don't know about you, but I'm sick of dealing with file-incompatibility problems.
There are so many more important issues to worry about when it comes to setting up,
configuring, and networking personal computers that I don't want to have to worry about
what version of what application from which operating system the file I'm working with
came from. I just want to open the damn file and get on with it.
Unfortunately, life isn't that easy. The problem is file conversion and/or translation.
In an ideal, completely controlled environment this wouldn't be an issue, of course,
because everyone would use the exact same version of the same application on the same OS
and everyone would be able to easily read from and write to all the files they receive
without fear of losing any data or formatting. Despite IS' best efforts, however, we don't
always have control over the formats of the files we receive. In fact, as the Internet
extends the boundaries of the workplace well beyond the four walls of the corporate office
-- and the convenience of e-mail attachments makes that an increasingly common method of
sharing files these days -- the problem of file conversion is increasing.
I have to admit I find this rather ironic because at the same time that these
developments have been occurring, Microsoft has been increasing its stranglehold on
office-productivity software to a staggering level -- more than a 90-percent share of the
market. One would think that file-format issues would be very limited because of this. In
reality, however, that's far from the truth. Platform and revision differences among
various flavors of Office -- combined with just enough variety in applications being used
-- contribute to a very messy environment. It's quite easy and quite common to lose
formatting or even be unable to read certain files.
So here's my thought: Have Microsoft publish the Office 97 file formats so that anybody
so inclined could write an application or utility that could read and write Word, Excel,
and PowerPoint files in their native formats with all formatting intact. They're the
default standard anyway (Microsoft even promised to use them in the upcoming Office 98 for
the Mac), so why not publicly proclaim them as the lingua franca of the computer industry
and give everyone a chance to use them?
Although publishing the Office formats certainly won't solve all the file-compatibility
problems we face, it should eventually get rid of about 90 percent of those that occur in
a typical business environment. Think how much easier life would be for end-users and IS
managers if they didn't have to worry about being able to open and share files without
sometimes tortuous and often inaccurate file translations.
I know some will argue that HTML or perhaps some beautifully designed, object-oriented,
compound document container should be the universal file format used by all applications.
But let's face reality, it ain't going to happen. Like it or not, Microsoft owns and will
continue to own the office-productivity market for a long time to come and its file
formats are the standard.
Others might argue that this isn't fair to Microsoft. Why should the company be forced
to reveal its proprietary file formats? My reply to that is, why should we be competing on
the basis of stupid file formats? Let's focus on the data and what you can do with the
data. I would even argue that Microsoft wouldn't lose any advantage on the deal. It would
just have to create the best Word, Excel, and PowerPoint file editors that you could buy,
and if it did (which, I'd bet, it would), it would continue to do extraordinarily well. At
least with a public file format Microsoft's competitors would be on even ground and could
compete purely on features and performance.
I bet a public-domain Office 97 file format would also spawn an entire cottage industry
of utilities that could manipulate those files in interesting and useful ways without fear
of creating incompatibilities. End-users would win all around because files would be
easier to read and share, and there would be more choices for editing and manipulating
those files than ever before.
Now, will this ever happen? Well, let's just say I'm not holding my breath. The truth
is, however, that Microsoft is treacherously close to so completely dominating the
software industry that governmental intervention may be in order. In the past, calls have
been made to break the applications and OS divisions into separate companies. But with
public-domain file formats for its most important applications, I think the demands for
this might not be as strong. Regardless, I think the entire computer industry could
benefit significantly from this one small, but important change. And who knows, it might
even guarantee that Microsoft would stick with its own file formats when it introduces the
next version of Office.
©
Copyright 1997, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
subsidiary of IDG Communications, Inc. Reprinted from InfoWorld,
155 Bovet Road, San Mateo, CA 94402. Further reproduction is prohibited.
