Over the course of its 20-year history, the ODF standard has been adopted, or at least recommended, by numerous supranational bodies and several countries on almost every continent. However, this does not necessarily mean that the ODF standard is used in accordance with these decisions, which are often laws in their own right, as Microsoft’s substantial lobbying and misinformation campaigns aimed at protecting its revenue of around $25 billion generated by the proprietary OOXML format (DOCX, XLSX and PPTX) encourage the use of the latter.…
Category: Open Document Format
The end of Windows 10 is approaching, so it’s time to consider Linux and LibreOffice
The Document Foundation and LibreOffice support the international campaign @endof10 https://endof10.org/
The countdown has begun. On 14 October 2025, Microsoft will end support for Windows 10. This will leave millions of users and organisations with a difficult choice: should they upgrade to Windows 11, or completely rethink their work environment?
The good news? You don’t have to follow Microsoft’s upgrade path.…
ODF and proprietary formats: a comparison
When we create or share a document – whether a simple text, complex spreadsheet or professional presentation – we make a choice that goes far beyond the file extension. This is because the format gives us, or takes away, control over the content.
This post compares the Open Document Format (ODF) with proprietary formats such as DOCX, XLSX and PPTX.…
Why is the Open Document Format (ODF) important?
Consider the history of control over user files, whether for organisations or individuals
Think about all the documents you have created in your lifetime: School assignments. Work presentations and reports. Household budgets. Letters. Perhaps even a personal diary or your CV.
Now imagine this: a few years go by, and when you try to open one of those files, it doesn’t work.…
What is the Open Document Format (ODF)?
An introduction to the Open Document Format
The documents we create today, whether reports, spreadsheets or presentations, are essential for communicating, sharing and storing knowledge. However, the format in which these documents are saved often goes unnoticed. This is where the Open Document Format (ODF) comes in. ODF is a technical standard and a tool that ensures documents remain accessible, editable and usable over time without being tied to a specific vendor or product.…
ODF 20th Anniversary Video
On May 1st, 2005, the Open Document Format (ODF) become an OASIS standard. One year after, it became an ISO/IEC standard. After two decades, it is the only true open standard for document formats available on the market, and the only one protecting users from proprietary lock in and ensuring a full control over contents. The presentation provides an overview over ODF features and explains why ODF should be used versus Microsoft OOXML (DOCX, XLSX and PPTX).…