Office 2007 default save format

[Geoff]

Is the new Office XML format (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, etc). This is unreadable in prior versions of MS Office or OpenOffice.

Just a little warning if any of your pupils/staff come into your office with USB stick and a confused look after buying a new shiny Vista PC.

[robert.mabbutt]

lol I've had this already, luckly I have been using office 2007 at home which i had changed the default file format however I had one template that I needed to keep as Dotx which meant i had downloaded the compatability pack for office 2003 Here. Last week 2 students turned up with having used the new shiny office only to discover they couldn't open their work, so i opened it and Save As'd it. I also informed them they should change the deafult save as file type for the time being.

Robert

[SimpleSi]

I thought MS were going to supply filters for XP/2003 for this (or did I dream it :? )

regards

Simon

[Geoff]

roberts post has a link to the 'compatibility pack' for Office 2k3. But as most of the machines here are on Office XP/2k that doesn't help me much.

[CyberNerd]

Novell are adding OOXML support for OpenOffice, not sure when it will be released.

[SimpleSi]

System Requirements

* Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000 Service Pack 4; Windows Server 2003; Windows XP Service Pack 1

* Recommended Microsoft Office programs:
o Microsoft Word 2000 with Service Pack 3, Microsoft Excel 2000 with Service Pack 3, and Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 with Service Pack 3

o Microsoft Word 2002 with Service Pack 3, Microsoft Excel 2002 with Service Pack 3, and Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 with Service Pack 3

o Microsoft Office Word 2003 with at least Service Pack 1, Microsoft Office Excel 2003 with at least Service Pack 1, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 with at least Service Pack 1

o Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003

o Microsoft Office Excel Viewer 2003

o Microsoft Office PowerPoint Viewer 2003

Top of page
Instructions
To install this download:

1. Ensure your system is up to date by installing all High-Priority/Required updates on Microsoft Update (required for Microsoft Office XP and 2003 users).

Doesn't all this imply that it works from Office 2000 upwards?
(I get confused as to what Office XP really is but isn't it also known as Office 2002???)
And OfficeXP is mentioned at bottom anyway so I'd thought worth trying.

regards

Simon

[riedquat]

[quote="SimpleSi"]

(I get confused as to what Office XP really is but isn't it also known as Office 2002???)

Just to help you out

Office 4.3 (Word 6, Excel 5, Powerpoint 4, Access 2)
Office 7 aka Office 95, Office for Windows 95
Office 8 aka Office 97
Office 9 aka Office 2000
Office 10 aka Office 2002, Office XP
Office 11 aka Office 2003
Office 12 aka Office 2007

So yes, according to those requirements, 'offices' above and including 2000 are supported with the pre-requiste service packs

[PiqueABoo]

As various RM users have discovered the compatibility pack depends on a previous hotfix KB923097 (which RM haven't passed on in their hotfix bundles). If you don't have that KB then 80% of the new formats will not be available.

[robert.mabbutt]

Found this on Microsoft's Site

By installing the Compatibility Pack along side of Microsoft Office XP, or Office 2003, you will be able open, edit, save, and create files using the Open XML Formats new to the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Office 2000 users, as well as users of Windows 2000 SP4 and later, can convert Open XML Formats to binary file formats from within Windows Explorer.

And on the download page it mentions minimum requirements office 2k and XP.

The only problem for users is it will open a Read Only version of the file it puts in Temp files so they have to make sure they save it to their documents folder before editing to save loss of work

Robert

[rom]

Is the new Office XML format (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, etc). This is unreadable in prior versions of MS Office or OpenOffice.

Just a little warning if any of your pupils/staff come into your office with USB stick and a confused look after buying a new shiny Vista PC.

You just save it in the old format.

[CyberNerd]

He probably got it fixed sometime in the last 5 yrs

[Sandman]

docx extensions and similar are fixed for viewing in open-office.... if your version still has issues you can either patch it or (easier) just re-install the latest version.