New York and Minnesota just completed studies into the merits of using open formats.

In the Minnesota report, the Office of Enterprise Technology came out in favor of open document formats, but stated that the marketplace is in flux, and it may be too early to recommend one format over another. (In related news, Microsoft just announced that it will support the Open Document Format in its next Office 2007 update.)

The New York report was a bit confusing, advising that NY should not adopt any one format due to the risk of it becoming outdated. This is confusing, because open, standardized formats do not become outdated. That is the whole point of ISO standardization.

New York and Minnesota Publish Open Document Studies [/.]

According to InformationWeek, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency is advocating for removing Microsoft Office from the classroom in favor of open-standards compliant office suites like OpenOffice.org.

It is good to see this kind of pressure on Microsoft. If they would either open up their OOXML standard or else support the Open Document Format like nearly every other office suite, it would benefit everyone. Microsoft is already starting to lose money as agencies like BECTA start opting for free software like OOo instead of the costly Microsoft bundle, so it seems like opening up its platform would be in its best interests.

If only the legal system would follow BECTA’s lead.