Adobe threatens Microsoft over Office 2007 PDF feature

Adobe's chief executive officer Bruce Chizen told the German magazine Euro that his company is providing the EU commission information about Microsoft's plans to offer the capability to export documents to PDF files in its upcoming Office 2007 package. However, the executive did not rule out the possibility that Adobe will sue Microsoft over the feature.

Chizen was careful in phrasing explicit threats against Microsoft, but mentioned that Adobe is considering its options. Illegal behavior of Microsoft could be answered with a direct lawsuit or collaboration regulators, which Chizen said Adobe is pursuing at this time. He mentioned that Adobe will leave the decision about further action to the EU Commission "for now." He did not deny the possibility of a future suit against Microsoft in the interview.

Microsoft and Adobe have been arguing over the PDF export for some time. Back in June, Microsoft said that it would pull support for saving documents in PDF and XPS (XML Paper Specification) formats from Office 2007. A plug-in to export files to PDF and XPS, however appeared on Microsoft's website in early September and was updated on November 8. According to Microsoft, the software can export the formats from all Office 2007 applications, including Access 2007, Excel 2007, InfoPath 2007, OneNote 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Publisher 2007, Visio 2007 and Word 2007.

Office 2007 is scheduled to become available for business customers on November 30.