Deerfield Technologies - Dealing with Office 2007 OpenXML files

Dealing with Office 2007 OpenXML files

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Tuesday, 06 March 2007
Microsoft introduced Office 2007 at the beginning of this year. With Office 2007 comes a new file format. This article will focus on how to deal with this new format in older versions of Microsoft Office. There are a couple of ways to deal with the new format even if you don't own a version of Microsoft Office. The new Office 2007 file formats are cummulatively known as OpenXML . In many ways this new format is a departure from previous Office file formats, and as such is not compatible with older versions of Microsoft Office applications. The obvious way to deal with the new file formats that Office 2007 creates would be to buy Office 2007. Let's look at two scenarios that do not require you to upgrade immediately. Scenario 1 For this scenario we'll assume you have one of the following versions of Microsoft Office (or one of the standalone Office components; Word, Excel, or PowerPoint): Microsoft Word 2000 with Service Pack 3, Microsoft Excel 2000 with Service Pack 3, and Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 with Service Pack 3 Microsoft Word 2002 with Service Pack 3, Microsoft Excel 2002 with Service Pack 3, and Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 with Service Pack 3 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 Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003 Microsoft Office Excel Viewer 2003 Microsoft Office PowerPoint Viewer 2003 running on one of the following operating sytems; Windows 2000 Service Pack 4; Windows Server 2003; or Windows XP Service Pack 1. The simple solution is to download and install the "Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats ". This update is a converter that will allow you to read and write files in the new format from your existing applications. You'll see the new file formats in the "Files of type:" dropdown list in the file Open and Save As dialog boxes. Scenario 2 The second scenario is either having an older version of Microsoft Office (or older standalone component versions) like Microsoft Office 97, or not having any version Microsoft Office or its standalone component applications. One solution to this scenario is to download and install the aforementioned Compatiblity Pack after downloading and installing the free Word Viewer 2003 , Excel Viewer 2003 , and PowerPoint Viewer 2003 . These viewers will allow you to open and print (but not edit) files created in Microsoft Office applications. A second solution would be to download the Novell version of the OpenOffice.org office suite , a free office suite that is compatible with many file formats, including Microsoft Office file formats. You'll have to register for an account on Novell's web site in order to download, and the download comes in the form of a 440 MB CD ISO which you will need to burn to a CD. After installing OpenOffice.org, download and install the OpenOffice.org OpenXML Translator from Novell.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 May 2007 )

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