Open Source Document Formats!

As seen over on Slashdot. This is a BIG DEAL. Especially for people trying to future proof their software purchases. (Make sure that your new software can at least import and export in these new formats.)

An anonymous reader writes “The OASIS Group announces that the third Committee Draft of the Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) v1.0 Specification has been approved as an OASIS Standard. The submission of the approved standard can be found at here.
The OpenDocument format is intended to provide an open alternative to proprietary document formats including the popular DOC, XLS, and PPT formats used by Microsoft Office. Organizations and individuals that store their data in an open format avoid being locked in to a single software vendor, leaving them free to switch software if their current vendor goes out of business or changes their software or licensing terms to something less favorable.”