"The state of Massachusetts has laid out a plan to switch all its workers away from Microsoft's Word, Excel and other desktop software applications, delivering what would be one of the most significant setbacks to the software company's battle against open-source software in its home market. The decision by one of the most populous states in the US could influence others which have yet to consider the issue, said Sam Hiser, an open source consultant and author. The state said yesterday that all electronic documents "created and saved" by state employees would have to be based on open formats, with the switch to start at the beginning of 2007. Documents created using Microsoft's Office software are produced in formats that are controlled by Microsoft, putting them outside the state's definition. In a paper laying out its future technology strategy yesterday, the state also specified only two document types that could be used in the future - Open-Document, which is used in open source applications like Open Office, and PDF, a widely used standard for electronic documents. The switch to open formats such as these was needed to ensure that the state could guarantee that citizens could open and read electronic documents in the future, according to Massachusetts - something that was not possible using closed formats." --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change you mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss