And now the state's IT division is actively looking for conversion software, via a request for information issued May 3. The RFI asks for information about plug-ins or other converters that could work with existing Office 2000 and 2003 installations and with Office 2007, which Microsoft plans to release by year's end.

Gutierrez was appointed state CIO in January after the resignation of predecessor Peter Quinn, the architect of the OpenDocument plan. Gutierrez last week said there hasn't been any "chill" in the state's attitude toward the use of open-source software, adding that its policy has never explicitly mandated that agencies move away from Office, despite Microsoft's refusal to support OpenDocument.

"I believe firmly in the technical reference model created [by the state] and the IT division's promotion of it, but my position is that it does not particularly advantage or disadvantage any particular office suite," Gutierrez said.

Although the OpenDocument policy is due to take effect next January, Gutierrez has said that state officials will deliver a status update next month. The process in Massachusetts is being closely watched as a test case by other government bodies and other organizations that are looking to adopt OpenDocument, which was accepted two weeks ago by the International Standards Organization.

The pursuit of a plug-in for Office "does not change the state's standard for open documents," said Joe Wilcox, an analyst at JupiterResearch in New York. "So far, I don't think they are backing away."