Creating Files for Older Versions Of Office With the 2007 Edition

In the 2007 version of Microsoft Office for Windows, Microsoft introduced new default file formats whose extensions end in the letter "x". The one for Word is "docx," for Excel it's "xlsx" and for PowerPoint it's "pptx."

Earlier versions of MS Office can't open these files due to the new formats. Microsoft has made available a free auto-conversion patch for the older Windows Office versions, but most people don't have this patch. (It can be found at "Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats.")

Unless you can persuade all of your collegues and coworkers to install these workarounds, I suggest you change a setting in Word 2007 so that, henceforth, all of your files will be saved in the traditional "doc" format.

To make the change, first click on the round "Office Button" at the top left of Word 2007. Then, at the lower right of the window that appears, click on "Word Options." In the next screen that comes up, click on "Save" in the column at the left. In the panel that appears at the right, you'll notice an option called "Save Files in this format," with a drop-down list of choices next to it. Display the list of choices by clicking on the arrow and select "Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc)". Then, click OK at the bottom of the window.

Microsoft warns that some new features in Word 2007 won't translate into the old format, but I believe this will have no effect in 99% of cases.