Better late than never: Open XML converter comes to Mac

Almost two years after it was originally promised, Microsoft has finally delivered the Open XML converter plug-in for Mac OS X.

While the new version of Office for Mac reads and writes to Open XML natively, users of previous versions of the productivity suite were effectively locked out until Tuesday. The 45 MB plug-in enables users of both Office v.X and 2004 to read and write to Open XML.

In addition to working with a single file, the plug-in allows users to also convert multiple files at once. If a user is on the Office 2004 11.5 update, the converter doesn't need to be opened at all; it works seamlessly within the application.

Microsoft had first said it would release the converters at the 2006 Worldwide Developers Conference in June. However, that release was delayed due to a need to wait for the finished Office 2007 product, as well as the completion of the file format itself.

In December 2006, Microsoft stated that the converters would be made available in Spring 2007, but in May 2007 it again delayed its release until two months after the release of Office 2008. That target date was not met either; the new Office release came out in January of this year.