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Avoid compatibility problems with new Word and Excel files

Posted 21 March 2007 at 8:52AM by Simon Dickson in Email and communications

If you ask somebody to email you a document, you can almost certainly expect to receive a Microsoft Word file. If you ask for a spreadsheet, it'll almost certainly be Excel. Presentations come in PowerPoint files. Dead simple, isn't it? Er, not any more.

With the release of Microsoft Office 2007, things just got a lot more complicated. The new versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint introduce more than a dozen new file formats into the mix - and crucially, each application has a new default file type.

So instead of Word defaulting to a '.doc' file, like it has done for years, the 2007 version defaults to the new '.docx' format. And guess what - the new format isn't immediately compatible with the old one, and if you try to load a Word 2007 file into Word 2003, it won't work. It's still possible to save in the old-school '.doc' format, now known as a 'Word 97-2003 document'... but only if you know to change the file type manually.

In their defence, Microsoft has done this for sound technical reasons. The new formats are based on XML and ZIP techniques, and promise better security, smaller files and greater flexibility, now and in the future.

And they've made available a free Compatibility Pack that will let you open the new formats in your older software. If you're using Word 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003, you'll see the new formats within your software, like any others. It's a bit trickier if you're using Excel 2000 or PowerPoint 2000, but it can still be done.

If you use Microsoft's free viewer programs for Word and Excel files, the same Compatibility Pack will let you open the new formats in the 2003 editions of the viewers. It's seamless in Word, but not in Excel: see this advice on the Microsoft site. Updated versions of the viewer programs are promised, with the PowerPoint 2007 viewer already available (and still free).

You're unlikely to hit this problem for a few months yet, as Office 2007 has only just appeared on the market. But it's worth double-checking with your contacts, if they say they'll send you a Word file, precisely what type of Word file they had in mind.

Tags: excel, free, Microsoft, office 2007, powerpoint, word

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