Microsoft, Adobe, and PDF in Office

Wow, this is the first I’ve ever heard of this:

WSJ.com - Microsoft and Adobe Square Off

Previously undisclosed talks between the companies about the use of an Adobe technology format broke down this week, Microsoft’s top attorney said in an interview. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, said the two companies have been trying to settle a four-month dispute over Microsoft’s plan to use the Adobe-developed technology, called Portable Document Format, or PDF, in its Office suite of applications.

With the talks over, Microsoft expects Adobe to follow through with a threat to file an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in Europe, Mr. Smith said.

Adobe wants Microsoft to remove the feature and offer it separately for a fee. Microsoft has agreed to remove the feature but is unwilling to charge for it, Mr. Smith said.

“Adobe has threatened antitrust action unless Microsoft agrees to raise its prices, in particular for the software that would allow Microsoft Office users to save a document in the Adobe PDF format,” he said.

[snip]

Adobe declined to clarify its exact objections to Microsoft’s use of the specifications.

Adobe offers technical specifications for PDF free, allowing other software makers to build applications that can read or write PDF files. Software from Apple Computer Inc. and open-source software called OpenOffice use the PDF technology.

How confusing. This is a feature I’ve always enjoyed on MacOS X - the ablity to print to PDF is baked into the OS. I hope this dispute can be resolved as it’d be great to have this capability in Office.