Quote:
They moved to new extensions to represent the completely new format, and moved to an XML driven system. This should (in theory) make their files a bit more compatible with other non MS products.


I would suggest that you have made the mistake of believing what the MS marketing dept say - and you are not alone by a long margin. Those guys are good at what they do.

There's actually a lot more to this than meets the eye - and it's not pretty.

There is an ISO approved document format called ODF.
Then there is Microsoft's 'OpenXML'.

Guess which one is fully documented and which one isn't (and has many legal barbs).

Guess which one provides a barrier to compatibility with non-MS products?

If you are genuinely interested look at these references on Groklaw

This is not simply 'anti-microsoft' (though I freely admit I am). It's very complex and not many people have the time and interest to follow through past the very expensive and very thorough spin that are put forward in the name of corporate profit.
_________________________
LittleBlueThing Running twin 30's