Hi, I missed this issue in the weekend. I think it is better that the developers don't bother about making the new format compatible with the old one. This will will put a restricting mind-set on further development and is not a good idea at all. Some times you may have to open a new leaf, as they say. The conversion (new to/from old format) can be offered by others (who are not necessarily associated with the core) as plugins, say using XSLT/DSSSL style-sheet or some scripting language like Python.
Suki
