Microsoft has promised that Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2), which is scheduled for release in the first half of 2009, will include support for more document standards, including Open Document Format (ODF).

When using SP2, customers will be able to open, edit and save documents using ODF and save documents into the XPS and PDF fixed formats from directly within the application without having to install any other code.

“We are committed to providing Office users with greater choice among document formats and enhanced interoperability between those formats and the applications that implement them,” said Chris Capossela, senior vice president for the Microsoft business division, in a statement.

Microsoft furthermore confirmed that Office 14 will include support for the newly ratified Office Open XML standard, (ISO/IEC 29500).

But the announcement was met with scepticism from the ODF Alliance. "The proof will be whether and when Microsoft's promised support for ODF is on par with its support for its own format," said Marino Marcich, managing director of the ODF Alliance.

“Until Microsoft enables Office users to create and save in ODF by default as easily and fully as in Microsoft's own formats, governments will continue to adopt a 'buyer beware' attitude. Because Microsoft has a history of broken promises, no one should celebrate this news until we see what is actually done and how quickly it is put in place., Marich added.