Office file formats

[Dorothy Gae Davis]

Just a few days ago I easily found the answer to this in
microsoft's knowledge base. It seems to have disappeared,
along with the search interface which no longer resembles
what I've been using.

I need to know with which version of Office the file
formats changed: Office 95 is one format, Office 2000 is
different. Which of the two formats is used by Office 97,
Office XP? And which came first: Office XP or Office 2000?

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, Dorothy,

In order of release:

The following is not compatible with others:
Office 95 format

The following are compatible with each other:
Office 97 format
Office 2000 format
Office XP format
Office 2003 format

Access is the exception. From "Office XP File Format Migration":
http://www.microsoft.com/office/previous/xp/columns/itcolumn02.asp

Migrating Access File Formats
Unlike the previous versions of Microsoft Access, users who upgrade to
Access version 2002 don't need to convert files created with Access 2000 to
a new format to continue using them. Files in Access 2000 file format-both
databases (.mdb) and Access projects (.adp)-can now be used directly in an
Access 2002 application by utilizing the default Access 2000 file format.
Conversely, files developed with Access 2002 using the default Access 2000
file format can be used in Access 2000 without conversion. This makes
developing and deploying applications in a mixed Access 2000 and Access 2002
environment much simpler than in previous versions of Access.

However, Access 97 files must be converted to Access 2000 or Access 2002
file format if they are to be used in Access 2002. The Convert To Access 97
File Format option is included in Access 2002 so that users can convert
their files in Access 2002 and Access 2000 file format back to Access 97,
albeit with reduced functionality.

When you want to use Access 2002 specific features and can ensure that all
users of your database are using Access 2002, you can use the Access 2002
file format.