Microsoft to Release Documentation for Outlook Personal Folders Format
Many a Linux user has already stumbled upon .pst documents, such as attached to emails in "Outlook Format." Microsoft now wants to publish documentation for the file format.
Under the keyword "interoperability," Microsoft group manager Paul Lorimer indicated in his blog that the company will make its Outlook Personal Folders format (.pst) specification available to more than just its developers. The publication should make it easier for anyone to write a program or library to handle the file format without needing written permission from Microsoft.
However, releasing the documentation is not under a free license, but under the Microsoft Open Specification Promise, an intellectual property rights implementation initiated in 2006 whereby Microsoft promises not to file claims against use of certain of their licensed or patented technologies. A similar Community Promise from 2007 applied to the free Mono .NET implementation.
According to Lorimer's blog, the PST specification is still in an early draft, with an exact release date still TBD.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.