BleepingComputer.com: Microsoft Ordered To Stop Selling Word

I see. Thanks for clearing things up.

It seems a little nit-picky to me.

could someone please tell me in simple terms what this is about........i have no idea of technical terms etc.......

Thanx - Annette

Quote

As of MS Office 2007, whenever you save a file, "letter_to_mom.docx" for example, then what's actually being saved are several, related, files inside a special bundle that looks like a single file called "letter_to_mom.docx.". These files are each responsible for a particular aspect of "letter_to_mom.docx" as a whole.

One file contains the actual text that you wrote, one contains a description of how the text is laid out (such as formatting like Bold or Italic text,) another contains generic information about the file that may be useful (like revision history, etc.) and yet another file contains instructions on how to combine the others into a single document. Other files may include pictures, sounds, charts, and other media that are used in the document.

It's this method of packaging documents, which uses a very handy language called XML (eXtensible Markup Language), that is being contested by the Canadian company. It is their contention that they have a patent which covers this method and that Microsoft is infringing on their patent by using it in MS Office without permission.

This post has been edited by Amazing Andrew: 29 December 2009 - 10:23 PM

Okay, THAT makes sense. Thanks.

And it seems very nit-picky.

What do you think are the odds that they will win and make Microsoft stop selling Word?

They already did, and Microsoft removed the functionality in any copies of Window 2007 to be sold after Jan.22, and it is not part of Windows 2010. As I stated before, the patent is more specific than what Andrew is describing, although there have been so many interpretations of the patent that it is hard to keep up. The patent does not relate to XML per se, but rather in how it is used. I think a good analogy would be to consider the letters of the alphabet. The alphabet, like XML, can be used by anyone. However, if I decide to name my products Microsoft, then I have violated their trademark.

At any rate, I think this article probably explains things best; it also includes the patent:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=22595

<is not code-savvy>

Why is packaging one document as several documents, like Andrew said (one for markup, one for the actual text, etc), better than putting it into one clean document? Wouldn't packaging bloat the size of the, for example, letter to mom and dad that you're trying to write?

Perhaps it would. But the advantage is that the letter can be opened by any number of programs since XML is an open standard whereas previous versions of Word used secret, proprietary, binary-only formats that no one else could use without reverse-engineering. Even Microsoft products have trouble with Word documents if the file was created by a version of Word that is really old or really new.

So that's why the different versions have compatibility problems....

Primarily, yes.

It's all about the money, isn't it?

Probably.

And intellectual property and the ownership of same.

Well, I always say, an i4ani an a Word Toothfairy for a tooth! I install Open office on most pc's I build for clients.