Massachusetts is now testing those plug-ins, according to Gary Edwards, a software developer who has created plug-ins for Word and Excel and is working on one for PowerPoint. Edwards said his plug-in allows Office users save files in the OpenDocument format without losing formatting information and can open those files up to 25 percent faster than equivalent Office files.

Such plug-ins could enable Massachusetts to continue using Office in the short run or indefinitely while fulfilling its requirement to move to ODF, Gutierrez said. It is unclear whether such plug-ins, combined with Microsoft Office, would meet the mandate from the Belgian government.