Migration Tools

It took six month, but now it's been announced internally that the OASIS OpenDocument Format (ODF) has been approved by the ISO members eligible and interested in casting a vote. ODF is now officially ISO/IEC 26300, and as such an internationally accepted standard format for document exchange.

It will probably still take some time before the final text will be released, but this definately marks a milestone. Microsoft's Open XML specification is still in process with Ecma, it will finally also head for ISO/IEC adoption.

Still one more argument to use OpenOffice: it already supports this document format, which will in future allow any user to exchange documents in a truly transparent manner from platform to platform as well as from office suite to office suite.

If you are a policymaker or administrator, also make sure to check out the ODF Alliance which thrives on educating the public on the benefits and opportunities of the OpenDocument Format, to help ensure that government information, records and documents are accessible across platforms and applications, even as technologies change today and in the future.

Migration of your data, both now and in future, has just become one step easier than before.

Versora has just announced a toolset that allows users to migrate their common Windows desktop to Linux.

From their press release.

This easy-to-use migration tool allows users to transfer files and settings from their Windows machine to a Linux machine, moving critical data, application settings, email, calendar entries, contact lists, desktop settings and directory structures via a “Click-Next-Next-Finished” interface. Under terms of the partnership agreement, Versora’s Progression Desktop is offered in a bundled package with the Turbolinux operating system.

"Combined with Versora's Progression Desktop, Turbolinux is best positioned to go after the Windows desktop market in Japan," said Koichi Yano, CEO and President of Turbolinux, Inc. "Turbolinux can replace Windows without compromising familiarity or productivity."

Using Versora Progression Desktop makes setting up a Linux computer easy. Information from Windows XP programs such as Microsoft Outlook are moved to the equivalent Linux application (such as Mozilla's Thunderbird or Evolution). Similarly, it will migrate a user's settings from Internet Explorer to the Firefox Internet browser, Microsoft Word files to OpenOffice.org, or Instant Messenger buddy lists to the Linux IM client Gaim.

The idea is actually simple: instead of moving the data directly from Windows to Linux and then see how you get it migrated to the new applications there, the first step is to run software in parallel to the existing programs - software that is available both on Windows and Linux.