Reading and Writing Office 2007 Files in Office 2000, XP, and 2003
The programs of Microsoft Office 2007 are capable of reading files created by all previous versions Microsoft Office and even earlier releases. For example, Word 2007 can read .doc files created by any version of Word from 1.0 to 2003. When an Office 2007 program opens a file saved using an older Office format, it uses Compatibility Mode to correctly interpret and render the file’s contents. This excellent functionality, however, is not all that you need to make the move to Office 2007.
A great concern among possible Office 2007 adopters is the ability to share Office 2007 files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) with people who haven’t yet made the move to Office 2007. Microsoft has addressed this concern by releasing the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. Using this update, users of Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003 will be able to open, edit, and save files created using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007. It also upgrades Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003, Excel Viewer 2003, and PowerPoint Viewer 2003 to view files saved using the new Office 2007 formats.
Even if you are not considering making the move to Office 2007 yourself, do consider the possibility that one day you may download or receive files created using Office 2007. Having already downloaded and installed this upgrade will save yourself the time of searching for this blog article telling you how to do it.
