LibreOffice has been on the offensive currently, taking the time to name out Microsoft and its practices at any time when it might. Now, it’s at it once more, accusing Microsoft of “deliberately” utilizing “unnecessarily advanced” file codecs to attain consumer lock-in with its Microsoft 365 (Workplace) paperwork.

For individuals who do not know, XML is a markup language that applications like Microsoft 365 and LibreOffice use to construction and outline paperwork. As LibreOffice places it:

An XML schema includes the construction, information varieties and guidelines of an XML doc and is described in an XML Schema Definition (XSD) file. This tells the PC what to anticipate and checks that the info follows the principles. In idea, XML and XSD collectively type the premise of the idea of interoperability.

The 2 workplace suites take very totally different paths right here. LibreOffice makes use of the OpenDocument Format (ODF), an open commonplace meant to be managed by no single firm. This format offers us recordsdata like .odt for textual content and .ods for spreadsheets.

Microsoft, however, created its personal Workplace Open XML (OOXML) to assist each function in its personal software program, giving us the acquainted .docx and .xlsx. What’s fascinating is that each codecs are actually simply ZIP archives. The simplest solution to confirm that is to take a .docx file, rename it to .zip, and decompress it. This can present you the heart of a Microsoft 365 doc.

As LibreOffice notes, XML is meant to operate as “a bridge,” however Microsoft is weaponizing its personal schema by making it so “advanced that it turns into a barrier fairly than a bridge.” LibreOffice compares it to a railway system the place the tracks are public, however one firm’s management system is so convoluted that nobody else can construct a suitable practice, making it virtually not possible for others to compete. Passengers do not realise they’re being held hostage by these technical hurdles.

An instance of such complexity features a deeply nested construction with non-intuitive naming conventions, and so many optionally available parts that implementing the format turns into a nightmare for any developer not working at Microsoft. Even a easy sentence turns into a maze of nested tags that’s virtually not possible for an outsider to parse accurately, regardless of the on-screen consequence wanting equivalent.

LibreOffice sees this similar lock-in logic at play elsewhere. It connects the advanced file format on to the push for Home windows 11, arguing that Microsoft has no good technical cause to power the swap on customers, and that the transfer appears designed solely to maintain prospects tied down. Due to this, it’s urging Home windows/Workplace customers to ditch the OS/Suite and swap to Linux/LibreOffice.