New open XML style format for Office
It looks like Microsoft Office has gone the way of Open Office for its next change of file formats. The new file ext will be .DOCX, .XLSX, .PPTX and basically they will be .zip files (so they should be able to be opened with something like winzip), and will contain a bunch of XML files that you can look at. Microfsoft will also make the shema's and everything else fully assessable - believing that its the software which adds the value - not the file(format).
Comments
I don't think many developers have really taken a look and understood how good of news this really is. If the way everyone is talking about it is true, we will be able to make truely native word, excel and powerpoint documents from any language that supports xml, and maybe ziping. This is such great news!
I'm just trying to work out what this might also mean in other areas, eg security.
One of the biggest laughs for MSOutlook2003 was a recomentded complete ban on MS file formats over macros, etc.
does this mean that a docx will only contain xml and no nasty macros to be executed? if so, will my Excel mortgage calculator (emailed to me by the bank) still work, or will it be another round of MS security vunerabilities when the docx is unzipped..?
oh where is poor old word perfect in all of this?
One of the biggest laughs for MSOutlook2003 was a recomentded complete ban on MS file formats over macros, etc.
does this mean that a docx will only contain xml and no nasty macros to be executed? if so, will my Excel mortgage calculator (emailed to me by the bank) still work, or will it be another round of MS security vunerabilities when the docx is unzipped..?
oh where is poor old word perfect in all of this?
