The ODF (Other Document Plugin) plugin was first launched for Microsoft Office by Sun Microsystems in 2007. It can extend the Open Document Format capabilities to Microsoft Office 2010. With this plugin, we can store open and edit files  as belonging to one of the standard Open Document Formats.

Now that Sun has been acquired by Oracle, the Open Document Format plugin for Microsoft Office is managed by Oracle. Oracle has recently released a new version of the plugin as a free software.

However, although the official page of ODF at Sun says its free, it still does not explain everything because in reality, the software is not free anymore.

Now, Oracle is charging a sum of $90 per user for a right to use the license for a year and another $19 for support throughout that year. The customer also requires a minimum order of 100 licenses to make a purchase. This needs a purchase of $9,000 before you can think of starting with ODF. Clearly, they did not at all care about personal computer users because they would have no reason to buy keys in mass.

One interesting fact here is that the plugin in this case costs even more  than the application itself.
Get the plugin here.
(Via: HOnline )