InformationWeek are reporting that Microsoft are going to remove the ‘Save as PDF’ function from its upcoming Office 2007 release, to keep good relations with Adobe.

Apparently, Adobe threatened legal action against Microsoft if they left the functionality in Office, saying that it would cut into their market for PDF creation products (such as Adobe Acrobat).

Microsoft are also introducing a rival format to PDF, called XPS, in Office 2007. This will remain in Office, but OEMs (companies that distribute PCs, like Dell) will have the option to completely remove XPS support from Windows Vista PCs.

Despite the PDF functionality being removed from Office 2007, Microsoft plan to offer a free patch to users which will re-enable the PDF export capability. Adobe are still not happy about this, and it seems a legal battle may happen unless Microsoft charge for the PDF patch.

This seems quite a blow to the long-standing partnership between Adobe and Microsoft, and it might result in the companies growing further apart. Adobe produce some of the most popular programs for Windows on the market, including Photoshop and Acrobat.