Denmark has given up on replacing Microsoft Office with Collabora, the open-source suite the government had championed to reduce its reliance on US software. The project failed because of compatibility problems with existing documents: some files in Microsoft's proprietary OOXML format opened with missing or blank pages. According to Neowin, the government has not named an alternative or a date for a new attempt.
The project was announced in 2025 by the Digitalisation Ministry, then led by Caroline Stage, as a first step toward less dependence on large US technology companies. The pilot, launched in summer 2025, involved about 40 ministry employees testing Collabora as an alternative to Office. The system was supplied by the Danish company cBrain. According to ComputerWorld.dk, cited by Neowin, the trial was quietly dropped. It had been paused during this year's elections and never resumed.
Image: eyerys.com — https://www.eyerys.com/articles/news/microsoft-office-becomes-microsoft-365
The technical issue is the file format. Collabora works mainly with the open OpenDocument format, while Microsoft Office uses the proprietary and more complex OOXML format. That difference makes migration painful: as long as documents in circulation stay in Microsoft's format, switching suites cannot be frictionless. The problem is not new: the Document Foundation, which develops LibreOffice, has long argued that Microsoft uses proprietary namespaces and formats that make interoperability harder, as covered on AlexTech in September.
The Danish case is not isolated. Other European governments have taken similar paths: Switzerland is testing openDesk on 3,000 workstations aiming to complete the transition by 2027, while the Netherlands is working on DAWO, a NixOS-based ecosystem. The Danish setback shows how complex these migrations become when they collide with the compatibility of existing documents.
Image: AntonyFernando3 — https://github.com/AntonyFernando3
For now, the Danish administration remains tied to the Microsoft suite. The government has not provided details on a new vendor selection, and the episode leaves open the question of how European public administrations can truly free themselves from proprietary formats.
No comments yet. Be the first!