State will keep Office after Microsoft makes change in software - The Boston Globe

Stimulus-response... 

If Massachusetts embraces Open XML, it'll be the latest in a string of victories for Microsoft in its bid to protect its Office business. After Massachusetts disclosed its policy shift, legislators in Florida, Texas, California, Oregon, and Connecticut filed bills that would have mandated the use of an open document format. But aggressive lobbying by Microsoft defeated them all.

Andrew Updegrove, a Boston lawyer who tracks the open document dispute, said that Microsoft's embrace of its Open XML provides more choices to consumers, because rival software companies can make compatible products. "If you look at it from the standpoint of Microsoft customers, it's a good thing," Updegrove said.

State will keep Office after Microsoft makes change in software - The Boston Globe