Microsoft said on Wednesday that it will add support for the ODF (Open Document Format) and now-standardized Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) into its next service pack for Office 2007.

The updating service pack -- Microsoft Office Service Pack 2 (SP2), which is expected to be out in the first half of 2009, will also support Microsoft's competitor to PDF, known as XPS, according to a Microsoft press release.

"Microsoft is going to be providing support for three new file formats directly in the Office product," said Erich Anderson, vice president and general counsel for Europe.

In Microsoft Office 2007 SP2, users will be able to open, edit, and save ODF and PDF documents as well as set the software to automatically save documents in those file formats by default. The increased support also includes its own XML Paper Specification and the Chinese national document format, Uniform Office Format.

"In supporting these standards, we're providing a platform for greater innovation and growth in the ecosystem," Tom Robertson, Microsoft's general manager of standards and interoperability, said in an interview.

"We want to get out of the political realm, focus on what matters most to customers, and then take concrete steps to meet their needs," added Robertson.

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