Applications that process Office 2007 files could become easier to develop with a planned SDK. The Open XML API SDK, now available as a community technical preview, delivers new .NET APIs for accessing data in the new Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 XML-based file formats, supporting applications such as form letter generators that build or extract data from Office files. The new APIs provide more intuitive data types (e.g., WordProcessingDocument) for accessing Office documents, enabling better support for Visual Studio error-checking and code completion features.

For the SDK preview download, see www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AD0B72FB-4A1D-4C52-BDB5-7DD7E816D046.

Additional technical information appears in Microsoft's Office file formats blog, blogs.msdn.com/brian_jones.