How proprietary formats have become Microsoft’s main tool for lock-in

The evolution of enterprise software ecosystems is marked by a tension between interoperability and proprietary control. Despite the shift toward subscription models and cloud-native services, data persistence remains the core mechanism for customer retention. Specifically, Microsoft utilizes proprietary file formats within the Microsoft Office suite as the primary vehicle for vendor lock-in. By engineering internal structural complexity into document files, Microsoft establishes an asymmetric information environment that privileges its own software stack.