The Joel on Software Discussion Group (CLOSED)

Hi all,

  I am doing some corporate research these days to understand what it would mean if an entire company of 10,000+ employees chose to migrate to OOXML. OK, OK, I know ODF would probably be a better choice, but there are big bucks and corporate "friendships" involved here, so it runs out of favour.

I need to understand how well OOXML will gel with SaaS office suites like Google Apps and other emerging content technologies. Any pointers would be very helpful. Relevant Web resources will be wonderful!

Also, I'd like to know what it means to migrate entire document repositories to OOXML. The challenges, the costs and the end results.

I hope I am right in assuming that a transition to XML-based file formats in the near future is inevitable. If it isn't OOXML, it's gotta be ODF, but the former looks a better choice right now, considering the entire organization has been using MS Office for as long as I can remember.

Please do let me know your thoughts.

>need to understand how well OOXML will gel with SaaS office >suites like Google Apps and other emerging content
>technologies.

For now, not at all. If OOXML comes in widespread use, this may change.

Then again, it may not, since one of the principal arguments against OOXML is that is it hard, if not impossible, for third-parties to fully implement support for it.

Nothing would change.

There'd be a bunch of documents which only Microsoft Office will read, i.e. business as usual.

(I think this is Microsoft's cunning plan...)