Download ODF Translator Add-In For Microsoft Office

This has to be one of the best moves made by Microsoft towards supporting document interoperability and open source. The first version of Open XML Translator has been released . The development of Open XML Translator is funded by Microsoft.

The Open XML Translator provides tools to build a technical bridge between the Open XML Formats and Open Document Format(ODF).The ODF add-in works in Microsoft Word XP, Word 2003 and Word 2007 and allows to open and save documents in the ODF format.

The press release of SourceForge.net discloses that the you will be able to read and write ODF documents even if you don't have OpenOffice suite (or other ODF implementations). The developers are also planning to make the translator for Excel and PowerPoint available by the end of the year.Even though the ODF Translator project is funded my Microsoft, it will continue to be open source.

It is important to note that while OpenOffice has always been able to open Microsoft Office formats, Microsoft had not been keen enough to provide support for ODF in Microsoft Office. This add-in seeks to simplify things for corporate houses which buy 1-2 Microsoft Office licenses (for the lead employees) and load OpenOffice on rest of the computers to save on money. So no more hassles in opening OpenOffice Documents with Microsoft Office now. ;)

For opening and saving files in ODF, you can find the options in the File Menu in Office XP, 2003 or by clicking the big office icon on the top left side in Word 2007.

Download : ODF Translator Add-in for Microsoft Office (English)