Microsoft and Adobe are growing their partnership with a series of new features including deeper PDF integration within Office 365 applications.
Microsoft has come a long way since it introduced its file format XPS (XML Paper Specification) file extension a decade ago. The file extension was intended to take over the traditional PDF we are all used to, however PDF file formats reigned king and for a long time Office wasn’t always seamless with the file format.
The closer partnership makes it easier to create PDF’s on programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint not only on desktop versions but mobile and online as well. Users will also be able to access Adobe PDF features through OneDrive and SharePoint.
“We’re thinking a lot about how work is shifting across these devices and these platforms, and so we are moving far out of this desktop-only paradigm, into making it easier for people to get their work done wherever they are,” said Mark Grilli, vice president of product marketing for Adobe’s Document Cloud, said in an interview with GeekWire.
This goes along with Microsoft’s digital transformation plans where it plans to be OS and device agnostic when developing it’s Office 365 offering. The deeper integration calls for better file merging, search and converting PDF’s into Office files.
This collaboration has been 2 years in the making with the 2 companies first announcing that Azure was Adobe’s preferred public cloud service.