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Licensing
Standards Licensing Programs
This page lists the royalty-free (and other RAND term) licenses that Microsoft has made available in the standards context.

News
Ecma International Approves Office Open XML as Worldwide Industry Standard
Broad industry cross-collaboration effort bears fruit; Open XML to help achieve greater interoperability and greater customer choice.

Resources
Office Open XML Formats Overview
Office Open XML Formats are based on industry standard XML and ZIP technologies, support full integration by any technology provider, and are available via a royalty-free license.
Improving Financial Analysis and Reporting Using XBRL and the Microsoft Office System
A Microsoft Office-based XBRL solution enables companies to take advantage of all of the benefits of XBRL, while at the same time working within a familiar environment that requires little or no training.
Automation Specification and Community Promise
UI Automation provides programmatic access to most user interface (UI) elements on the desktop.
Network Access Protection
Network Access Protection (NAP) is a policy enforcement platform built into Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn" operating systems that allows you to better protect network assets by enforcing compliance with system health requirements.
Government Interoperability: Enabling the Delivery of E-Services
Many of Microsoft's government customers are working on the challenges associated with the delivery of electronic services (e-services) over the Web. This white paper takes a look at some of those challenges and offers ideas of how to work through them.
Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) Homepage
WS-I is an open industry organization chartered to promote Web services interoperability across platforms, operating systems, and programming languages.
Microsoft Office XML Reference Schemas
Microsoft offers open and royalty-free documentation and licenses for the Microsoft Office 2003 XML Reference Schemas including SpreadsheetML, FormTemplate Schemas, WordprocessingML, and DataDiagramingML.
Published Protocols and Royalty-Free License Resource
List of client-server protocols (used for communication between Windows 2000/XP client operating systems and Microsoft Windows NT/2000/2003 Server, operating systems) published on MSDNor through standards organizations or other third party sources.
WPF/E (codename) Developer Center
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF/E) enables the creation of content and applications that run within multiple browsers and operating systems (Windows and Macintosh) using Web standards for programmability.
Microsoft Class Server 4.0 Product Overview
Deploy less-costly and easier-to-maintain application architecture through compliance with open standards, such as schools interoperability framework (SIF) and instructional management systems (IMS).
Microsoft SharePoint Learning Kit
The Microsoft SharePoint Learning Kit (SLK) is a tool that lets educators create an assignment out of any document in a SharePoint Document Library and includes support for SCORM 2004, SCORM 1.2, and Class Server formats.
Microsoft Assistive Technology Vendor Program (MATvp)
Microsoft works with technology manufacturers in the Microsoft Assistive Technology Vendor Program (MATvp) who design, build, and support assistive technology products that help individuals with difficulties and impairments successfully use computers.
2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS
This download allows you to export and save to the PDF and XPS formats in eight 2007 Microsoft Office programs. It also allows you to send as e-mail attachment in the PDF and XPS formats in a subset of these programs.
Microsoft Government Interoperability Initiative
From supporting interoperability frameworks to e-government national targets, Microsoft consistently meets and exceeds governments' needs for open formats and open standards. Read on about Microsoft's commitment to transparent and interoperable software.
XML Paper Specification (XPS) Overview
The XML Paper Specification makes modern documents possible for all. Simply put, XPS describes electronic paper in a way that can be read by hardware, read by software, and read by humans.

White papers
Web Services Authentication in a Multi-Vendor Environment
This 60-page white paper, created for the IT decision makers and architects of the British Columbia government , addresses common authentication challenges when designing Web services in a multi-vendor environment.



Nov 18, 2009


GooHooSoft bear-hugs 'Apache for web specs': Open source meets open standards


Oct 29, 2009


Microsoft extends Windows 7 and Azure to open source developers


Oct 29, 2009


Microsoft partners up for open-source Azure, Silverlight tools