SXW vs ODT: OpenOffice 1.x Legacy XML vs Modern OpenDocument Text
A detailed comparison of Sun Microsystems' OpenOffice.org 1.x Writer (.sxw) XML package and the OASIS ISO-standardized OpenDocument Text (.odt) format.
Before OASIS and ISO standardized OpenDocument Format (ODF) in 2005, OpenOffice.org 1.0 and 1.1 saved word processing documents in the .sxw format. While both use ZIP containers packing XML streams, SXW uses the older Sun namespace schema that modern office suites often struggle to render accurately.
| FEATURE | SXW | ODT |
|---|---|---|
| Specification Standard | Sun Microsystems OpenOffice.org 1.0 Schema | OASIS / ISO/IEC 26300 Standard |
| Package Container | PKZIP archive with content.xml & meta.xml | PKZIP archive with ODF manifest & content.xml |
| MIME Identifier | application/vnd.sun.xml.writer | application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text |
| Default Suite | OpenOffice.org 1.0–1.1.5 / StarOffice 6.0 | OpenOffice.org 2.0+ / LibreOffice / Apache OpenOffice |
| Initial Release Year | 2002 | 2005 |
- Pioneered open XML word processing inside compressed ZIP packages
- Preserves original formatting of early 2000s StarOffice and OpenOffice files
- Includes Dublin Core metadata and clean hierarchical content.xml streams
- Completely free from proprietary binary OLE container lock-in
- Universal ISO/IEC 26300 international standard
- Supported natively across LibreOffice, Google Docs, Microsoft Office, and mobile apps
- Richer typographic feature set (OpenType features, SVG shapes, MathML)
- Active maintenance and schema evolutions across modern document ecosystems
ODT is the contemporary champion of open document formats, but millions of archival files remain saved as SXW. convrtr extracts SXW text, tables, and lists into universal Markdown directly in your browser with zero data leakage.
Converting files between SXW and ODT frequently? The convrtr Chrome Extension lets you right-click any image on any webpage or open the Side Panel to convert assets instantly using local WebAssembly with zero server uploads.