In a statement on its website, Microsoft Corporation said it would share its source code to the Microsoft Office 2003, which includes Microsoft Word and Excel spreadsheet applications, as part of its Government Security Program.

Launched in January 2003, the GSP is a no-fee global program aimed at promoting confidence in the security and interoperability of the US group's products. Under the program Microft already offers the source code to its Windows operating system, used on about 90 percent of the world's computers.

Microsoft said that more than 30 countries, including Australia, Britain, China, Norway, Russia and Spain, have signed GSP agreements.

Government agencies from more than 60 countries are eligible to participate in the program.

Under the terms of the GSP's three-year contract, government can access Microsoft's underlying codes and use them to develop new software, but they cannot alter the sources codes themselves.

"At Microsoft, we view governments that utilize our software as trusted partners. The addition of Office 2003 to the GSP demonstrates our continued commitment to collaborating with government all over the world to deliver solutions that address their unique and specific IT needs," said Jonathan Murray, vice president and chief technical officer of Microsoft EMEA, the company's Paris-based European, Middle East and Africa division.

The GSP is available to more than 60 countries with intellectual property regimes that meet international standards, the Redmond, Washington state-based company said.

The move came as Microsoft faces competition from so-called "open-source" software, available free of charge on the Internet, such as Linux.

Several governments and municipalities have turned to Linux as a way to save money.

In Europe, the city of Vienna announced last month that it would join a growing number of European cities next year embracing Linux.

About half of Vienna's officials will be given the choice of switching from the Windows computer operating system to Linux in 2005.

The municipality of Munich, in southern Germany, has been operating exlusively on Linux since 2003.

Last month Hewlett-Packard announced plans for what it said was the world's first notebook computer from a major manufacturer using the Linux operating system.

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