Microsoft Releases Specs for Binary Formats

skolima writes "In response to requests for even easier access to the Binary Formats, Microsoft has agreed to remove any intermediate steps necessary to get the documentation. They're going to just post it, making it directly available as a download on the Microsoft web site. Microsoft will also make the Binary Formats subject to its Open Specification Promise by February 15, 2008. They're even planning to include an Open Source converter implementation."

One month to reconfigure firewalls

[ccguy]

From the TFA:

Initiate a (...) Project on the open source software development web site SourceForge The Translator Project will start on February 15, 2008.

I believe it's quite considerate to give both network teams enough time to unblock each other' IP ranges :-)

Whoops

[ProteusQ]

And they will even an Open Source converter implementation.

Yes, I'm they will!

in other news...

[AmaDaden]

Satan: Why did it just get so cold in here?

last sentence of summary

[BigHungryJoe]

And they will even an Open Source converter implementation

i find myself doing this all the time at work now, and it's embarrassing. I leave entire words out of emails, IMs, etc. I never used to do that. I must be getting old.

Many times, I'll leave out a negating word, like "not", causing me to communicate the wrong idea.

Woohoo!

[MisterSquirrel]

Wow! It sounds like Microsoft has seen the light! It's only a matter of time now before they start giving away all their software for free.

I'm definitely trolling this time

[jgarra23]

...and since this is slashdot, it's not good enough until they've also:

1. refunded all money earned through use of these formats
2. allow people to fork them and then demand that their idiot-forks get recombined into the trunk and incorporated into MS Office 09
3. #2 isn't good enough, Microsoft must even make sure that they are in the next release of OO even though they have nothing to do with that product
4. Clipart of Steve Ballmer throwing chairs is included
5. it is released under the GPLv3 license
6. the EU gets to fine them another trillion euros (with a lower-case e) for every day since 1980 that the formats have not been open
7. none of the above points matter because Microsoft sucks anyway and no one @ slashdot uses MS Office, they all use OO (yea, right!)

so go ahead, mod me down you fuckers.

so humor is now reality?

[JeanBaptiste]

Microsoft patents ones and zeros [theonion.com]

Re:seeing as its all binary formats

[TeknoHog]

thats just about every file MS Applications and OS creates no ? unless files are saved in plain ini/text/xml/humanreadable format isnt everything else a form of binary ?

Even plain ini/text/xml etc. is eventually stored as ones and zeros. And I think I saw a 2...

Re:carrot

[Admiral_Grinder]

I'm sure we will find out in a rude way when we bend over to pick up the carrot.

A gift from Microsoft

[dtjohnson]

Microsoft is releasing the specs for binary document formats. This will help those who want to support and maintain those formats so this is a gift from Microsoft. Fellow residents of Troy, let us be grateful and embrace this great offering.

Re:The important stuff

[tritonman]

ok, so if it's all binary formats only, does this mean they won't be releasing the specs for the notepad format? I've been waiting for this forever.

Re:seeing as its all binary formats

[Chris Mattern]

Don't worry, there's no such thing as 2.

Re:in other news...

[Jason Levine]

I don't know. I'm too busy dodging those stupid flying pigs. Ack! Another one!

Re:The important stuff

[MrNemesis]

February 15th? Are they merely trying to recruit the programmers who attempted suicide the previous evening on account of not getting lucky?

"Decoding MS binary formats - it's better than death!" ;)

Re:Woohoo!

[Anonymous Coward]

About time. I have for years been giving away all their software for free. ;-)

Re:last sentence of summary

[Locutus]

what's worst is when you proof read it before hitting the [send] button and only after seeing it in another form do you see you once again you out another word. Yup, the brain does funny things to us.

LoB
   

Re:I'm definitely trolling this time

[chuckymonkey]

I don't understand, you have steps but no

?????

Profit!

Re:I'm definitely trolling this time

[Dareth]

MS did the "Profit!" step first at Step 0.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:The important stuff

[MrNemesis]

Please note that the slogan I gave was from their marketing department. Any resemblance the actual decoder work has with pure, unadulterated hellfire of the anus that makes you wish you and everyone you'd ever met was dead is purely coincidental and not covered by their "CompilesForSure!" guarantee.

Re:I'm definitely trolling this time

[StormReaver]

"so go ahead, mod me down you fuckers."

I would mod you down, but then you would become more powerful than I could possibly imagine.

Binary Format spoiler

[ShadowOfMe]

From wiki: a representation for numbers using only two digits (usually, 0 and 1) Nex week Microsoft will release specs for Octal format We're expecting full disclosure for Hexadecimal to follow soon.

Re:The important stuff

[plague3106]

Huh? The new formats, .docx and such, are covered under the OOXML standard they are trying to get approved. What exactly is your issue?

Pigs?

[Comboman]

Are you sure those aren't chairs?

Binary Spec?

[CrazyTalk]

Is it just me, or does this story remind anyone of The Onion headline, "Microsoft patents ones and zeros"

Re:The important stuff

[mhall119]

Re Feb 14: Most geeks have no clue what you are talking about...

Feb 14 is the date of Ubuntu 8.10 feature freeze, I would think every geek knows that.

Oh wait, are you talking about something else?

Re:The important stuff

[hullabalucination]

Not to fear. I'm 9eveloping my own open so4rce reverse-engineere9 implementation of the NotePa9 format, calle9 OpenPa9. I estimate that I've got abo4t 96% of the format fig4re9 o4t. As a matter of fact, my post here was compose9 originally in OpenPa9 then copie9 an9 paste9 into the Slash9ot comment s4bmission page.

* * * * *

Oh, squi9beaks!

Re:The important stuff

[AJWM]

We need a -1, Hopelessly naive, moderation.

You don't seriously think that what MS Office 2007 puts out in .docx files actually matches the spec that MS wrote up as OOXML, do you? How precious.

Re:The important stuff

[LeDopore]

Oh, squi9beaks!

Looks like OpenPa9 just hit 98% accuracy.