Opening a PC Powerpoint Presentatiom with Mac Office 2008

[Jim Mahon]

I am posting this question once again in hopes that someone has found
a work around solution. I do training for a Safety organization that
delivers it's programs via Windows PowerPoint 2007 PPS & PPSX files
that are password protected. They work find on a windows machine
however I own a MacOSX PPC and machine Office 2008. When I attempt to
view them on my machine it informs me that they are protected by a
password or DRM and exits. I have spoke to the orgaization that
created these files and they say the problem is isolated to Mac's
Office 2008 and they can't help.

I don't want to edit these files is there a viewer out there or a
solution someone has found?

Surely I don't need another computer to view these files.

 

[David Marcovitz]

I am posting this question once again in hopes that someone has found
a work around solution. I do training for a Safety organization that
delivers it's programs via Windows PowerPoint 2007 PPS& PPSX files
that are password protected. They work find on a windows machine
however I own a MacOSX PPC and machine Office 2008. When I attempt to
view them on my machine it informs me that they are protected by a
password or DRM and exits. I have spoke to the orgaization that
created these files and they say the problem is isolated to Mac's
Office 2008 and they can't help.

I don't want to edit these files is there a viewer out there or a
solution someone has found?

Surely I don't need another computer to view these files.

Unfortunately, I believe the answer is that Macs don't play nicely with
passwords. All the workarounds I know about involve the sender doing
something with them to make them readable by you (removing the password,
saving them as a PDF file, etc.).

--David

--
David M. Marcovitz
Author of _Powerful PowerPoint for Educators_
http://www.PowerfulPowerPoint.com/
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP
Associate Professor, Loyola University Maryland

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Jim;

There is no workaround nor is the matter "isolated to Mac's Office 2008".
Any resolution has to be arrived at by way of at least some degree of
compromise on the part of the source.

Although it's true that Mac PPT has never provided password protection that
probably isn't the issue you're dealing with here. Office 2007 employs
Information Rights Management/Digital Rights Management through Sharepoint
Services which is a highly complex encryption scheme. If the file is
internally protected using that technology there is no program - even on the
PC - that can simply open it other than another properly authorized
installation of the Office 2007 app.

If the creator wants to provide access to the file there are other options
they need to consider.