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PLUGIN: Default to ODF

The Foundation's ODF Plugin permits users or administrators to set MS Word to default to the ISO OpenDocument Format (.odt).

Fig. 1: (Word 2003) Under Tools -> Options, Save tab in Word, you can change the default to .odt as if it were native to the application.

This permits individuals & organizations to configure their PCs to open, save and work primarily in the ISO OpenDocument Format.

Once the organization has safely acclimatized to working and archiving in ODF, the next step toward vendor-neutrality would necessarily require a good look at the business processes touching the desktop -- both the formal and lighter-weight, improvised or ad hoc business processes through which people get things done.

PLUGIN: Transparently Save a File

The Foundation's Plugin for Word permits the user to save a text document within the Word application in the ISO OpenDocument Format (.odt).

Fig. 1: (Word 2000) File -> Save As wizard now includes the .odt extension as if it were one of Microsoft's own formats (click image to expand).

With the ODF Plugin installed, the user's action to save the file is as natural as if ODF were native to the Word application.

The user may work within Word in the .odt format and open and save .odt files, transparently. The user or administrator may also set .odt as the default file format for Word (more screenshots soon).

PLUGIN: Transparently Open a File

The Foundation's MS Office Plugin installs as a common add-on for Word. It permits the user to open a text document within the Word application in the OpenDocument Format (.odt). Plugins for Excel and Powerpoint are also proposed and in development.

This screenshot comes from the OpenDocument Foundation's response to the Commonwealth's Request for Information.

Fig. 1: (Word 2003) File->Open wizard now includes the .odt extension as if it were one of Microsoft's own formats (click image to expand).

See how the Plugin allows the user to interact with the OpenDocument Format as if it were native to the application.

The user may work within Word in the .odt format and later perform a File->Save (or File->Save As) in the .odt format, transparently, with no required change in the customary way of working. The user or administrator may also set .odt as the default file format for Word (more screenshots available soon).

Foundation's Response to Mass ITD

For reference...

The OpenDocument Foundation's response to the Commonwealth's May 3, 2006, Request for Information ("RFi") about an ODF Plugin is here.

Other parties responded to the RFi, too...

• DocVert
• Media Entities Inc.
• Microsoft
• Phase-N
• Sun Microsystems
• Tonic Systems (pdf)

The Original RFi, itself, from Massachusetts ITD is here.