Microsoft will organise a meeting in Berlin, Germany, in early April where it will test "interoperability between Microsoft's implementations of well-known document formats, and between implementations of different formats."
The Berlin meeting is one in a series of three titled 'Document Interoperability Initiative'. They were announced last Thursday in Cambridge, USA, where the first meeting was held. Microsoft says it will organise a similar meeting in Seoul, Korea this week.
The company says that for the meetings it will invite technical staff from independent software vendors. They will address issues in the implementations of its document formats and in the translations across other formats.
In a statement, Jean Paoli, responsible at Microsoft for Interoperability and XML Architecture, said: “Microsoft believes that the industry has a responsibility to come together to address the interests of users in achieving greater interoperability and effective data exchange between widely deployed document format implementations."
The company introduces the series of tests as part of its "strategic changes in its technology and business practices to expand interoperability through the implementation of its interoperability principles". It announced this on 21 February.
In a statement published that same day, the European Commission "took note" of that announcement. "The Commission would welcome any move towards genuine interoperability. Nonetheless, the Commission notes that today's announcement follows at least four similar statements by Microsoft in the past on the importance of interoperability." The Commission is investigating Microsoft for two possible breaches of the EU's antitrust regulations, one of which on interoperability.
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Further information:
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Document Interoperability Initiative (Microsoft press release)