PDF support for Office 12

[Steve]

OpenOffice.org has it, and soon MS Office will have it too - PDF writing built in! Microsoft PressPass has an interview with Steven Sinofsky.

PressPass: Under what scenarios do you expect customers to take advantage of PDF?

Sinofsky: Customers today are asking for a format that represents the “printed page” and can be viewed on multiple platforms, even if a person does not have Microsoft Office. The PDF format has been broadly recognized as an acceptable way to share information when the author does not want that information easily modified or when there is no longer a need to edit that information. This ability to view on multiple platforms and provide a casual level of document security is a customer need that can be met by PDF. And with the integration in Office “12” we are making this easy for customers.

[Nick F]

About time, this is a fantastic idea I can't believe it's taken MS so long to introduce it

[megah0]

Adobe won't be happy

[Nick F]

Adobe won't be happy

Why? I would have thought it would have been with their blessing More people are gonna want Adobe products now.

[megah0]

If microsoft are offering their products with PDF writing built in then why are people going to buy office AND Acrobat?

[Nick F]

I am sure MS gave Adobe a massive wad of cash for this feature.

[megah0]

PressPass: Isn’t PDF an Adobe product?

Sinofsky: PDF was developed by Adobe and has been available in a public specification for a long time. It has been offered by Adobe as an ISO standard. Microsoft used this standard to guide development of the PDF technology in Office “12”. We’re happy to take advantage of the openness of the PDF format to include this in Office “12” for our customers. There are many other products that support the PDF format, including our own Office for the Mac.

Maybe, maybe not

[directhex]

i think it's almost certain that PDF files made by office 12 will be non-standard in some way

embrace and extend, and all that

[technophreak]

This is about time. I have Acrobat anyway but it will be useful to have it built into Office too.

[dangel]

Stopgap till Opendocument..