Office 2007

[handsome handsome]

Dear Sir/Madam,
I have a compatibility question re: Office 2007, Windows2000Xp and
Office 2004 for Mac. I have a Sony Vio and run Windows 2000XP, as well
as a Mac. I use Office 2004 for Mac for students. I need an Office
program for my Vio so I can write Word documents on either computer and
edit them on the other computer. Would Office 2007 be compatible with
both systems? Is there a better version that I should buy that would
creat less problems. A seamless cross use is most desirable! Thank You
in advance for any info regarding this.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Hi--

You are pretty much okay. You will run into a temporary problem--the
default file format for Word 2007 is the new .docx format. For MacWord
2004 to open these files, you will need to save them in Word 97-2003
..doc format. But the converters for MacWord 2004 to read and write .docx
will be in beta within two months (I think), and final in the spring,
and then it should all be compatible without thinking about it. (I
think you can set the default save format to be .doc in Word 2007 if you
want, not quite sure).

There is no better version of MacOffice to buy than 2004, at this
point. If your Mac has an Intel processor, you could load Parallels on
it and run Windows Office 2007 within it, which would be seamless.

Other Mac word processors (such as the free NeoOffice) may have
converters available already, but I believe they are limited in what
they transfer successfully--if your documents are basically just text,
other programs might be a fine alternative, at least until Office 2004
has the proper converters or until Mac Office 2008, which will use the
new .docx format by default, is out in the second half of 2007.

hope that helps.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi,

Daiya is right on the money.

You should check the options of Office 2007 to see if you can change the
default file format to the .doc format.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

Dear Sir/Madam,
I have a compatibility question re: Office 2007, Windows2000Xp and
Office 2004 for Mac. I have a Sony Vio and run Windows 2000XP, as well
as a Mac. I use Office 2004 for Mac for students. I need an Office
program for my Vio so I can write Word documents on either computer and
edit them on the other computer. Would Office 2007 be compatible with
both systems? Is there a better version that I should buy that would
creat less problems. A seamless cross use is most desirable! Thank You
in advance for any info regarding this.

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[Michel Bintener]

You should check the options of Office 2007 to see if you can change the
default file format to the .doc format.

That can be done, and I guess it's the most convenient solution for the time
being.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[Barry Wainwright [MVP]]

But the converters for MacWord 2004 to read and write .docx
will be in beta within two months (I think)

Are you sure the converters will _write_ docx? I don't recall having seen
that stated anywhere. I would have thought the odds were that they would
_read_ the file, but not write to it. They don't need to - even if if a mac
user can't create a docx file, then word 2007 can still read their doc
format.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Are you sure the converters will _write_ docx? I don't recall having seen
that stated anywhere. I would have thought the odds were that they would
_read_ the file, but not write to it. They don't need to - even if if a mac
user can't create a docx file, then word 2007 can still read their doc
format.

Yes, they will both read and write docx. It's been posted in several
blogs by MacBU.

 

[CyberTaz]

Absolutely ... "Office Button - Word Options Button - Save" is basically the
same as the previous Tools>Options>Save, where you can pick any available
format as the default.

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Barry:

Yes, they will (at least, the Windows version does...). The Office PC
developers made a big noise about it being the first time the add-in for
earlier versions offered full read-write support.

Cheers

Are you sure the converters will _write_ docx? I don't recall having seen
that stated anywhere. I would have thought the odds were that they would
_read_ the file, but not write to it. They don't need to - even if if a mac
user can't create a docx file, then word 2007 can still read their doc
format.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Barry Wainwright [MVP]]

Well, reading the transcript of Ros Ho's interview at MacWorld, I wouldn't
be so sure:

PressPass: What will the experience be when using converters?

Ho: The converters will be available as a download from the Mac BU Web site.
Once installed, the tool will allow Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac users to
natively read Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac files. Users can then work in the
documents as if they were created in their current file format. Documents sent
to users of the 2007 Office system for Windows will be read easily, since the
2007 Office system supports the current file formats.

That most definitely implies that the converters will be 'read only'.


--
Barry Wainwright
Microsoft MVP (see http://mvp.support.microsoft.com for details)
The Entourage User's WebLog has moved!
For hints, tips and troubleshooting go to <http://www.barryw.net/weblog/>

From: "John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:00:39 +1100
Conversation: Office 2007
Subject: Re: Office 2007

Hi Barry:

Yes, they will (at least, the Windows version does...). The Office PC
developers made a big noise about it being the first time the add-in for
earlier versions offered full read-write support.

Cheers

Are you sure the converters will _write_ docx? I don't recall having seen
that stated anywhere. I would have thought the odds were that they would
_read_ the file, but not write to it. They don't need to - even if if a mac
user can't create a docx file, then word 2007 can still read their doc
format.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[JE McGimpsey]

That most definitely implies that the converters will be 'read only'.

Barry:

"The converters will read and write the new formats"
-Erik Schwiebert, Software Design Lead, MacBU
December 05, 2006 7:39 pm

http://blogs.msdn.com/macmojo/archive/2006/12/05/converters-coming-free-a
nd-fairly-fast.aspx

(or http://tinyurl.com/y278fn)