Microsoft Office users will be given greater flexibility and freedom of choice, as the Redmond-based company unveiled its plans to expand the list of supported document formats, including XML Paper Specification (XPS), Portal Document Format (PDF) 1.5 and Open Document Format (ODF) v. 1.1. The changes are to be expected with the release of Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2), which is scheduled to appear in the first half of 2009.

Starting with SP2, users will be allowed to open, save and edit documents using ODF, as well as save documents into the XPS and PDF formats, Microsoft revealed. Users will also be able to choose the ODF as the default file format for Office 2007.

These implementations are meant to stress Microsoft’s commitment to offering users greater choice among document formats, as well as an enhanced interoperability between those formats and the applications that implement them, Chris Capossela, senior vice president for the Microsoft Business Division, explained in a statement, adding that by increasing their openness, they will help create opportunities for both developers and competitors to innovate and deliver new value to their customers.

This is in fact an official step, but the ODF format has already been accepted by Microsoft, who released a converter that allows users to open documents in that particular format. Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions for Novell Inc said this step allows customers to work with the document format that best meet their needs and enables interoperability in the marketplace.

The decision was made due to a very high demand. Earlier this month, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA) filed a complaint to the European Commission against Microsoft for anticompetitive practice and lack of interoperability of Microsoft products. Microsoft responded that they are deeply committed to education and interoperability, and that the company has already started to develop tools that will enable Office to work better with files in ODF.