Microsoft Research’s involvement in Planets has been focused on identifying strategies for using Office Open XML standards for archiving and preservation of digital content. The Microsoft Office Open XML (Office OpenXML) formats represent a significant advance in representing information contained in textual documents, spreadsheets, and multimedia presentations in an open format, based on the XML standard. Microsoft believes that the use of the Microsoft Office Open XML formats can maximize long-term usage of documents and provide the value to the organisations and services concerned with archiving and preservation.

Microsoft Research (MSR) was established in 1991 and has since developed into a unique entity among corporate research labs, balancing an open academic model with an effective process for transferring its research to product development teams. Microsoft researchers work across more than 55 disciplines, including areas that are directly related to the authoring, management, metadata creation, access security, and analysis of digital documents. Although most of the researchers pursue long-term goals that extend far beyond the current product cycles, they also work closely with product groups to transfer knowledge and help turn their discoveries into functional offerings. Through collaboration between Microsoft Research and Planets partners, the project has benefited from technical expertise of Microsoft product teams and researchers who are actively engaging with the community on devising methods and tools for digital preservation.