Microsoft announced late Wednesday that TurboLinux will participate in its Open XML-ODF translator project on Sourceforge.net. The translator is expected to serve as a bridge between the Open XML and ODF file formats ; Microsoft said that the software will be developed in stages and will be made available for free under a Berkeley Software Distribution license.

Microsoft announced the Open XML-ODF translator project last July. The company said that in the past six months alone, the project has resulted in the development of an Office Word translator as well as beta translators for Office Excel and Office PowerPoint, both of which are promised to be completed early next year. According to Microsoft, the translators have been downloaded more than 230,000 times so far.