Chris-Linfoot.net

1. Upgrading existing ICT systems to Microsoft Vista or Office 2007 is not recommended and mixed Windows-based operating environments should be avoided.
   
   
2. No widespread deployment of Office 2007 should take place until schools and colleges are sure that they have in place mechanisms to deal with interoperability and potential digital divide issues set out in the report.
   
   
3. To ensure widest compatibility of files between different applications, users of Office 2007 should not save in Microsoft's new Office format (OOXML).
   
   
4. Due to limitations in Microsoft's implementation of the Open Document Format (ODF) international standard, users should in the short term continue to save files in the more widely adopted .doc, .xls and .ppt formats.
   
   
5. Pupils, teachers and parents should also be made aware of the wide range of free-to-use products currently available and on how to use and access them.
   
   
6. The ICT industry should be facilitating easier access to 'free-to-use' office productivity software.

On the face of it, this appears to make a direct connection between OOXML and what the report calls digital divide issues.

Ouch.

And look at what it says about Microsoft's implementation of the Open Document Format.

Double ouch.

And is it just me, or do those last two points read like an open invitation to Sun Microsystems (via Open Office) to take a prominent position in the provision of software in British schools?

Update: The full report even mentions Lotus Symphony.

Competition and choice

1.26 We note a number of recent developments aimed at enhancing choice in the field of office productivity software. These include further development of the online Google Apps product set, the incorporation of Star Office into the free download Google Pack and the release by IBM of a free version of Lotus Symphony.

Category: Software
Technorati: Becta Microsoft Office+2007 Windows Vista

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