XML, which stands for extensible markup language, is one of the key building blocks for the next generation of software and services that will enable more intelligent documents capable of harnessing information from networks and the Web.

Microsoft's executives have bet the company on the initiative to blend software and information across a wide ranges of devices, from desktop computers to servers to PDAs, calling it .NET (dot-net).

Microsoft Office product manager Scott Bishop said the new program, code-named XDocs, will debut in mid-2003 as the newest member of the Office suite of software, used for word processing and spreadsheet number-crunching.

XDocs allows users without in-depth knowledge of XML to create forms to record, store and retrieve information more efficiently.

If entered once, such information can be used by a variety of programs, such as Excel, a customer relationship management program and even a Web-based application without tedious reentry. Because XML is Web-based, it can also be shared across the Internet and between different devices.

"Information workers," Microsoft's term for the typical office worker who uses computers frequently, "will be producing XML. They won't know it but they will," Bishop said..

"Most organizations don't feel they're getting the most out of all the information that they have residing on desktops or in servers," Bishop said, "This allows people to contribute as well as consume Web services," he said.