If the federal govt simply shifted to .rtf and .pdf formats exclusively for text documents, that'd be enough to level the proverbial playing field.
Yes, the Feds could simply switch to an open source vanilla word processor and spreadsheet and save on all the spent money on lawyers to battle MicroSoft. I think an Executive Order would be all that it would take. Productivity would improve to boot because of all the useless and nonsensical features such as "autoformat" which burden Word.
I was thinking at a simpler level.
If the largest single document generator in the nation switches to formats that could be read by *any* text editor, including but not limited to MSFT's, then that many fewer people would be compelled to use a particular proprietary program.
Of course, MSFT's products would still be able to read/write the material, so there's no "anti"-MSFT element to this.
This is such a blindingly obvious notion, I can't fathom why it hasn't been done.