Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Office 2007

Microsoft has added new file formats to the 2007 versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to reduce file size, improve reliability and enhance integration with external sources. To help ensure that you can exchange documents between Microsoft Office releases, Microsoft has developed a Compatibility Pack for the Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats.

By installing the Compatibility Pack along side Microsoft Office 2003 or Office 2000, you will be able to open, edit, save and create files using the new 2007 Microsoft Office system file formats.

The Compatibility Pack can also be used in conjunction with the Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003, Excel Viewer 2003, and PowerPoint Viewer 2003 to view files saved in these new formats. For more information about the Compatibility Pack, see Knowledge Base article 924074.

Note: If you use Microsoft Word 2000 or Microsoft Word 2002 to read or write documents containing complex scripts, please see this support article for information to enable Word 2007 documents to be displayed correctly in your version of Word.

Administrators: The administrative template for the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint converters contained within the Compatibility Pack is also available for download.

Updating Previous Releases of Microsoft Office with the Compatibility Pack

1. Ensure your system is up to date by installing all high priority/required updates on Microsoft Update.



2. Download the Compatibility Pack by using the preferred language version links below:
   
   English Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007
   
   French Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007
   
   German Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007



3. Start the download from the Microsoft Downloads site and save the file to your hard disk:



4. Double-click the FileFormatConverters.exe program file on your hard disk to start the setup program.



5. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.

By following these steps, you will be able open, edit, save and create files using the 2007 Microsoft Office system file formats:

Word

• .docx—Microsoft Office Word 2007 document
• .docm—Microsoft Office Word 2007 macro-enabled document

PowerPoint

• .pptx—Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 presentation
• .pptm—Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 macro-enabled presentation
• .potx—Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 template
• .potm—Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 macro-enabled template
• .ppsx—Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 show
• .ppsm—Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 macro-enabled show

Excel

• .xlsb—Microsoft Office Excel 2007 binary workbook
• .xlsx—Microsoft Office Excel 2007 workbook
• .xlsm—Microsoft Office Excel 2007 macro-enabled workbook
• .xltx—Microsoft Office Excel 2007 template
• .xltm—Microsoft Office Excel 2007 macro-enabled template
• .xlam—Microsoft Office Excel 2007 add-in

Using the Compatibility Pack

Microsoft Office XP and Office 2003 Word, Excel and PowerPoint users
After bringing your system up to date by following the steps above, you will be able to use your existing version of Word, Excel and PowerPoint to open, edit, save and create the file formats new to the 2007 versions of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. For example:

You can open 2007 versions of Word, Excel or PowerPoint files by double-clicking them just as you do with your existing Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.

You can save 2007 versions of Word, Excel or PowerPoint files by clicking the Save button in your version of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

You can create 2007 versions of Word, Excel or PowerPoint files by opening a blank file and using the Save As command in your version of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

Office 2000 Word users
By installing the Compatibility Pack, you can open, save, and create the file formats new to Office Word 2007 within Word 2000. For example:

You can open files in the formats new to Office Word 2007 by double-clicking them.

You can save files in the formats new to Office Word 2007 by clicking the Save button in Word 2000.

You can create files in the formats new to Office Word 2007 by creating a blank file and using the Save As command in Word 2000.

Office 2000 Excel and PowerPoint users
By installing the Compatibility Pack, you can open and save the file formats new to Office Excel 2007 and Office PowerPoint 2007 from the Microsoft Windows operating system. For example:

You can open files in the formats new to Office Excel 2007 and Office PowerPoint 2007 by double-clicking the file from the Microsoft Windows operating system (that is, from your Desktop, My Documents folder, the Windows Explorer, and others).

You can save files in the formats new to Office Excel 2007 and Office PowerPoint 2007 by right-clicking an Excel 2000 or PowerPoint 2000 file and clicking Save As on the right-click menu.

You can create files in the formats new to Office Word 2007 by creating a blank file and using the Save As command in Word 2000.