Glad to see Microsoft supporting ODF, PDF and other document formats in Office 2007. As you may know, Zoho currently supports these formats (including OOXML). But then, going forward, do document formats really matter?
We need these formats to exchange files between computers and other users. More and more, we are seeing that the documents are moving online. We truly believe that online applications are the future where you can create and save your content online. When your data is in the cloud, your document is just a URL away. This means, you don't attach files, you simply share them, online. You don't need to copy files between computers. They are just a browser away from all the computers. In this pure online model, document formats doesn't really matter. Even in the offline mode, you don't really have a document format for browser-based apps.
We are not there yet to ignore these formats. But sure, we'll get there one day.
The idea of file format interoperability is still relevant even in an online world. Exporting a document to a file format supports three scenarios:
1) Sharing files with others
2) sharing files between different applications (interoperability)
3) Keeping an independent copy of the file for posterityStoring documents in the cloud only solves the first of these three scenarios. If I want to open a Zoho document on Google Docs, how might I go about that? As a service Zoho might implement the ability to log into Zoho using your Google Docs account, and maybe Zoho will allow using that information to grab the documents and translate them to Zoho-land, but all you have done is implemented a converter from Google's Walled Garden into Zoho's. At least with File Formats, there is a published spec that anyone can implement and be interoperable with the standard. In this new online world, to be interoperable you essentially need to establish a proprietary format and implement a ton of converters. There are still file formats, they are just now hidden from the user.And on the third scenario: What do you do, as a user, if Zoho goes bankrupt tomorrow? Do I lose my documents? My only option for backup would be to export them to a file format that is well understood.
The idea of file format interoperability is still relevant even in an online world. Exporting a document to a file format supports three scenarios:
1) Sharing files with others
2) sharing files between different applications (interoperability)
3) Keeping an independent copy of the file for posterityStoring documents in the cloud only solves the first of these three scenarios. If I want to open a Zoho document on Google Docs, how might I go about that? As a service Zoho might implement the ability to log into Zoho using your Google Docs account, and maybe Zoho will allow using that information to grab the documents and translate them to Zoho-land, but all you have done is implemented a converter from Google's Walled Garden into Zoho's. At least with File Formats, there is a published spec that anyone can implement and be interoperable with the standard. In this new online world, to be interoperable you essentially need to establish a proprietary format and implement a ton of converters. There are still file formats, they are just now hidden from the user.And on the third scenario: What do you do, as a user, if Zoho goes bankrupt tomorrow? Do I lose my documents? My only option for backup would be to export them to a file format that is well understood.
hey gud stuff indeed.. since the problems wid present formats i can talk about new probs that u may try.. like integrating some word or picture in same board where your docmnt allows image,scribblings all over like a black board.. visit my site http://netaks.blogspot.com
I can’t import pdf files too :(
I can’t import pdf files too :(
I think, the different formats will remain even if all storage is moved to the cloud, just because the cloud based apps will still need to address data interoperability.
I think, the different formats will remain even if all storage is moved to the cloud, just because the cloud based apps will still need to address data interoperability.
@Don, yes, we acknowledge docx import is taking time. We apologize. Our team is working hard, but project schedules are stubborn, unpredictable things ..@Michael, we are on it too.
@Don, yes, we acknowledge docx import is taking time. We apologize. Our team is working hard, but project schedules are stubborn, unpredictable things ..@Michael, we are on it too.
You say Zoho supports pdf but that isn't true, I can't import pdf files using Z.Business or Z.Writer, so what exactly are you saying?
You say Zoho supports pdf but that isn't true, I can't import pdf files using Z.Business or Z.Writer, so what exactly are you saying?
hey, tell techmeme, where you are spending some ad bucks, to stop using the background gray thing... it is just a sign to skim that part and move on, since, you know, we all ignore ads... months have gone by, i never looked at the gray part, went for the stories only
hey, tell techmeme, where you are spending some ad bucks, to stop using the background gray thing... it is just a sign to skim that part and move on, since, you know, we all ignore ads... months have gone by, i never looked at the gray part, went for the stories only
RE your statment, "Zoho currently supports these formats (including OOXML)" - exporting Zoho Writer documents to OOXML hardly represents support!
You can claim support once you have import and export of OOXML across documents, presentations and spreadsheets...considering that you said three months back that "import of OOXML in Zoho Writer is coming soon" and I still don't see it, I am not holding my breath waiting for real support any time soon...
RE your statment, "Zoho currently supports these formats (including OOXML)" - exporting Zoho Writer documents to OOXML hardly represents support!
You can claim support once you have import and export of OOXML across documents, presentations and spreadsheets...considering that you said three months back that "import of OOXML in Zoho Writer is coming soon" and I still don't see it, I am not holding my breath waiting for real support any time soon...
@Dan, These documents can be created and preserved online too. A document on the web has more advantages compared to the traditional documents which cannot be captured by these formats. I talked about some of these points in one of my previous posts.https://blog.zoho.com/general/...
@Dan, These documents can be created and preserved online too. A document on the web has more advantages compared to the traditional documents which cannot be captured by these formats. I talked about some of these points in one of my previous posts.https://blog.zoho.com/general/...
The majority of documents are not shared, they are recorded and preserved. That's why document formats are important. Maybe more than ever.
The majority of documents are not shared, they are recorded and preserved. That's why document formats are important. Maybe more than ever.