Joel on Software, "Why are Microsoft Office File Formats So Complicated" https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2008/02/19/why-are-the-microsoft-office-file-formats-so

Joel on Software, "Why are Microsoft Office File Formats So Complicated" https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2008/02/19/why-are-the-microsoft-office-file-formats-so-complicated-and-some-workarounds/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2008/02/19/why-are-the-micros... They were designed to be fast on very old computers. They were designed to use libraries. They were not designed with interoperability in mind. They have to reflect the history of the applications,