Today version 1.0 of the translator between ODF and Open XML has been made available on Source Forge and has already been downloaded over 10,000 times! The Microsoft press release can be found here.

This release represents a ton of work, all done in the open source community and rigorous testing against real world documents and scenarios. The result will be flexibility and choice for Microsoft Office customers, allowing them to leverage the XML file format that most suits their needs. This is a Source Forge project so it will presumably continue to evolve and improve over time.

We also announced today that Microsoft will sponsor a similar translator project, run with the same discipline will be starting this month with the goal of delivering this capability to Excel and PowerPoint users.

I strongly encourage the OSS community to become a more active participant in this project. With more participation, especially in the testing process (including test criteria as well as physical testing) the team can ensure a broader set of customer needs will be met.