Here are a few Open XML nuggets I've collected in the final days of consideration of DIS 29500 by the national standards bodies.   The Apache POI project is a Java API to access various document formats.  They have announced on their web page...

An open format creates new opportunities for implementation on a multitude of platforms and business models. Such is the case with Thinkfree, a South Korean software developer. Eric White interviewed Jae Hyun Park, the CTO of Thinkfree a while back, and...

The myth that Open XML's object embedding model is not compatible with KParts is much like the reanimated corpse of a zombie. Despite being dead, it comes back. Eric White has performed some KPart voodoo that will finally allow this one to rest. This...

Doug Mahugh blogged that the US V1 Technical Committee recommended approval of DIS 29500 (Open XML) to the INCITS Executive Board. This is not the final US position, but it is an important positive step on the way to the US final position. Eric Lai...

In case you missed it, with the release of Siliverlight 2 beta 1 during MIX 08 , we also made available the samples source code for the Silverlight Blueprint for SharePoint . The SharePoint team blogged about the blueprint earlier in the week, but we...

Today Microsoft took a major step forward in making it easy for developers to build powerful applications with the release of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. If you didn't make it to the launch event in Los Angeles or in a...

Delegates from national standards bodies will meet tomorrow in Geneva for the DIS29500 Ballot Resolution Meeting (BRM). As Alex Brown mentioned in his FAQ , "the meeting is for resolving comments that NBs have submitted (with their votes) on the text...

Legacy Hashing Algorithm . Eric White posted C/C++ sample code for the Legacy Hashing Algorithm that is used for document protection in Open XML. As Eric explains, this is used to signal to the application whether to enable editing or not. It is not used...

The Visual Studio team has just released a set of add-ons called VSTO Power Tools . Andrew Whitechapel wrote about it in his blog. The Power Tools have a treat for Open XML developers, the Open XML Package Editor. Whether you're writing code or learning...

After much prodding from various friends and coworkers I've decided to start blogging. I plan to write about Microsoft's platform technology, interoperability and other topics of interest. I've been thinking about what I want to say and do with my...