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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4603539.stm

Last Updated: Thursday, 2 June, 2005, 13:54 GMT 14:54 UK
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Microsoft adopts web file styles
Pedger and pen, Eyewire
Some data is easier to capture than others

*Microsoft is putting a key web technology at the heart of its most 
popular programs.*

By late 2006 all the files created by users of its Office suite of 
software will be formatted with web-centred XML specifications.

The decision marks a big change to Microsoft's existing proprietary file 
formats that can be hard to work with.

Microsoft said the changes should make it much easier for companies to 
do more business via the web.

*Code change*

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language and it specifies how to 
represent the structure of data. This is important when firms want to 
use information in spreadsheets or databases in web-based applications.

XML is also important because it means that the data structures it 
captures can be presented in many different ways. This is likely to 
prove vital to firms keen to do more with e-commerce as it will make it 
much easier for a firm's trading partners to get at and use the data 
they need.

By contrast the more widely known and used HTML (Hypertext Markup 
Language) struggles to capture the relationships between chunks of data 
in any useful and meaningful way.