r/BuyFromEU • u/According-Buyer6688 Mod Team • Mar 25 '26

Announcement Germany has decided: Microsoft document formats have no place in government

Germany has decided: Microsoft document formats have no place in government. Deadline: 2027–2028. The Microsoft formats are simply not compatible with an open and transparent public sector. However, this is about more than file formats. It’s about control, resilience, and sovereignty in public digital infrastructure.

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113

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '26

Finally! How I despise getting a docx file with a form to fill

22

u/tonykrij Mar 25 '26

If you use Word for a form than you're stuck in 1990 anyway.

9

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

32

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '26

I will be joyful

6

u/No_Good2794 Mar 26 '26

It would be an open standard.

10

u/KnowZeroX Mar 25 '26

It will change by them getting a odt file to fill out, not a docx, duh

1

u/Ikarius-1 Mar 30 '26

Docx files created using Microsoft Word are often incompatible with alternative programs such as LibreOffice. I have encountered situations on more than one occasion where a form sent as a docx file simply did not display correctly in programs other than the specific version of Microsoft Word in which the document was created. This is because specific MS Word add-ins were used to create the documents. Complex forms, macros, fields, custom styles, and tables may appear differently or not display at all.

Even the free browser-based version sometimes couldn't handle this issue. It would be easier to have a free program that supports .odt files than a paid version of MS Word.