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The companies will initially work to develop Apache POI libraries supporting Office Open XML file formats. Apache POI is an open-source file format reader and writer used to edit Microsoft Office formats used in Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Visio.

"Donating code to an established, consensus-driven organisation such as the Apache Software Foundation benefits both our customers and

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the open-source community at large," says Sam Ramji, senior director of Platform Technology Strategy at Microsoft.

"By helping contribute to new Apache solutions, we are putting our intentions into action, and giving back to this dynamic community."

Adding support for Open XML to the Apache POI is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2008.

The deal is part of Microsoft's continuing attempts to "open up" and collaborate with the open-source community, something it pledged back in February.

Microsoft has also announced a new service which will allow users to import their Facebook and other social-networking contacts into Live Messenger.