Microsoft Word Off The Market?

The recent judgment against Microsoft has people curious. What’s the lawsuit about? What will happen to Microsoft Office? What are the ramifications for companies that rely heavily on Word?

The lawsuit is actually pretty simple. A Canadian company, i4i, patented a customized version of XML. Starting with Office 2007, Word documents started to natively use XML (that’s why the newer files are .docx versus .doc).

As i4i saw it, the XML formatting that Microsoft was using was not a public domain standard. It brought an injunction in Texas that ultimately put Microsoft on their heels: no sales until the case was resolved.

As far as the public is concerned, Microsoft Office and its Word program aren’t going anywhere. The chances of this having any affect on the average user are slim. Office 2010 is about six to eight months away and since it’s the easiest answer, Microsoft will either have to either pay up or persevere in the courts in the short-term.

So, the sky isn’t falling. And even if it did, OpenOffice is a heck of program. At least until someone sues them.

UPDATE 12.24.09
Microsoft lost, believe it or not. Word isn’t going anywhere though. The ruling was in i4i’s favor. Microsoft is being forced to exclude a portion of the code from Word 2003 and 2007 (a patch was already issued a while ago). The end result? If you’re not a stockholder, you won’t likely be affected.