It is not earth-shattering news to many that seamless interoperability between the open-document and the Microsoft Office document formats is a ways away.

How far away? The jury and I are still out on that one, but when it comes to reviewing the evidence at hand, which suggests a bright future for universal interoperability, interesting exhibits steadily surface.

For instance, I just gave Sun's ODF Plug-In for Microsoft Office a thorough testing of its file conversion capabilities and its promise to enable users to read, edit, and save ODF-formatted files (like word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations). I assembled a versatile, intricate, and tough batch of sample ODF files that threw both softballs and curveballs at the newly debuted plug-in.

There were definitely gold stars awarded at the end of the day, but there were also several "needs improvements" dished out as well. Take a closer look at my findings in the full article at eWEEK, and don't forget to check out the handy accompanying slideshow as well

While I'm at it, why not promote my earlier blog post that asked for your help in continuing my testing of this plug-in and future plug-ins by sending me any documents that you've experienced problems converting. Check it out here.

Of course, despite its rigor and thoroughness, this round of testing still only scratches the surface of a mammoth undertaking that is still in its formative years. Critics of the open-document format movement might shrug their shoulders when they read the article, while supporters may raise their glasses in a light toast. I'd imagine that Microsoft can't help but raise its eyebrows, even if just a millimeter. It can't ignore that, despite its efforts to sometimes block and sometimes acquiesce ODF conversion, there continues to be a little guy steadfastly picking away at the software giant's domination of office productivity. As the saying goes, the squeaky wheel always gets the grease, even if the squeaks in question start out at a soft decibel.

In the United States, most office users can't imagine a world without MSO-formatted documents, and frankly, sometimes I can't either. Taking the notion a step further, sometimes I wonder if the Herculean efforts taken by community-driven and volunteer organizations, such as the OpenDocument Foundation and OpenDocument Fellowship, are nothing but wide-eyed idealism.

What would be the harm of simply having a universal MSO-formatted document to keep our office lives streamlined and in check? I've been relying on Microsoft for this long and, so far, my ability to work well with others hasn't often been disrupted.

Then I remember my own propensity to shy away from big-box retailers and chain coffee houses, which is not to say I don't ever find myself in a Home Depot or a Starbucks, because I certainly do. However, I've never been able to get behind strong-armed imperialism or dictatorships of any sort.

More than just reading about where Sun's plug-in stands to improve and where it breaks new ground, consider where it fits into the larger context of office productivity on a global level, how it will change the face of file interoperability between our foreign counterparts and where it stands to preserve our document history and archives. It's not like anyone counts on microfiche these days.

As these new efforts inch forward to bring file conversion fidelity into the 21st century, more than simply opening, saving, and editing is at stake. A whole new way of thinking about our interactions with each other and our information is really the opportunity we can seize or destroy, but it'd be shameful to simply ignore.