Microsoft evades Office ban with update for OEMs
updated 10:45 am EST, Wed December 23, 2009
MS requires new Office fix to obey ruling
Microsoft has acted quickly on its promise to keep Office on shelves by pushing an Office update to computer builders. The supplement, intended for an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) version of Office 2007 from October, removes the support for reading custom-generated XML within DOCX, DOCM and pure XML files. It should continue to open files with the code inside but will no longer show the code to comply with patent infringement claims.
No patch removing the feature is likely to come for existing owners, as the injunction against Microsoft only affects copies of Word and Office sold from January 11th onwards. The software developer has already pledged that every copy of the software at retail will be fixed by that point.
Office 2008 for Mac, beta releases of Office 2010 and third-party software like iWork and OpenOffice isn't subject to the rule as they don't implement the technology at the heart of i4i's successful lawsuit.
Microsoft has claimed custom XML isn't important but has alluded to fighting its lost appeal at levels as high as the US Supreme Court. The company faces a $290 million penalty regardless of how well it complies with the ruling and is likely to seek a complete reversal of the verdict. [via ZDNet]
Grizzled Veteran
Joined: Oct 1999
Yes!
With a logic that could only come from a company run by a CEO like Ballmer, it's so unimportant that they'll take it to the Supreme court! Yeah, and Apple are a rounding error!