XML has won! All major office suites now save their documents in zipped XML by default

Interesting article over on IBM DeveloperWorks where Elliotte Rusty Harold prognosticates what he thinks is in store for XML. For those of us in technical communications, the section on XML and structured authoring made me re-think my assessment of XML.

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Here’s an extract:

“Before a document can be published, it has to be authored, and here the fight is over. XML has won. All major office suites now save their documents in zipped XML by default.

These include Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, StarOffice, WordPerfect Office, and Lotus® Notes®. Even graphic applications like Adobe® Illustrator® can now save documents as XML. The most notable hold-out is Apple’s iWork, but look for it to join the parade in the new year.”

He adds that “For Microsoft, the nightmare of a younger, nimbler competitor overtaking them is also coming true.

The company was so distracted by Sun and Netscape that it failed to notice Google sneaking up on Office and Windows. GMail, Google Docs, and similar applications from a variety of sources are rapidly rendering the underlying operating system irrelevant.”

Read about The future of XML

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