The formal ISO approval of the OpenDocument Format (ODF) standard this week is a big step that has all eyes on Microsoft Office. Now the OpenDocument Foundation’s Gary Edwards says it will release a plug-in for Microsoft Office to access and save in OpenDocument Format (ODF), reports Groklaw.The plugin is being offered to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in response to the its request for information on any plugin for Office that can “easily open, render, and save to ODF files, and also allow translation of documents between Microsoft’s binary (.doc, .xls, .ppt) or XML formats and ODF.” Groklaw wrote that the foundation said it has tested the plug-in and it is ready to go. However, a News.com report says it is not ready yet. I’ve placed a call with Edwards for when it may be available. (Will updte when I hear back.)But News.com did report this much: “The ODF Plug-in installs on the file menu as a natural and transparent part of the ‘open,’ ‘save,’ and ‘save as’ sequences. As far as end users and other application add-ons are concerned, ODF Plugin renders ODF documents as if (they) were native to MS Office,” according to Edwards.Groklaw writes: “So, to Microsoft: never mind. You don’t need to lift a finger.” Software DevelopmentTechnology Industry