MA to embrace OpenDocument format
According the The Boston Globe, the Massachusets Information Technology Division has written a draft document requiring government documents to be in an open format starting in 2007.
The report recommends that the state embrace a new document standard called the OpenDocument format, which was issued in May by a consortium that includes Microsoft, IBM Corp., Dell Inc., aircraft maker Boeing Co., and the US Department of Defense. The OpenDocument standard is used in OpenOffice, a free software program available over the Internet, and in StarOffice, which is sold by Sun Microsystems Inc. But any company can adopt the standard, which is available free of charge. Microsoft Office file formats are the property of Microsoft and cannot be incorporated into software from other firms.
If Microsoft and others are smart, they will still be able to keep fat government contracts by really implementing open standards–not like MS has been doing with this whole IE 7 thing–and focusing on usability rather than adding features that 90% of the population will never touch.
