Office 2007 to Change File Extensions

[kcnychief]

Has anyone else seen this yet - kinda surprising to see the file extensions changing from 3 to 4 characters. Mostly just adding a x, m or b on the end...

Word = .docx
Excel = .xlsx
Powerpoint = .pptx

http://www.aviransplace.com/index.php/archives/2006/04/05/the-new-office-2007-file-formats/

 

[NetRyder]

This was decided a long time ago, back when they announced that all the new Office 12 file formats would be XML-based.

 

[madmatt]

Yes Derek. Old news. Please try and keep up. =]

 

[Johnny]

Will it recognize older office files ???

 

[kcnychief]

The new file formats will be default file formats for Office 2007 but they will also be backward compatible to Microsoft Office 2000 using Office 2007 Compatibility Mode.

 

[NetRyder]

Will it recognize older office files ???

Yes, definitely. Lack of backward-compatibility would be instant suicide.

 

[Johnny]

Thanx for the info guys. Good to hear. With the way M$ has been acting it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't make it backwards compatible.

 

[madmatt]

Microsoft has never stopped support for old extensions, with any of their applications. Not quite sure what you are thinking of.

 

[Johnny]

I was talking about a way for them to force people to move to the new office suite, Matt.

 

[NetRyder]

Actually, if you think about it, it would have the opposite effect (which is why I called it suicidal). If corporations, or even individual customers, have hundreds or thousands of files that were created in Office 2003 or earlier, and the files won't open in Office 2007, they simply won't touch Office 2007. After all, the stored data is just too important to lose, and Office 2003 isn't going anywhere.

That's precisely why Microsoft has always been very careful with backwards-compatibility issues; even today, you can run Windows 95 era applications on XP, and open Office 97 files with Office 2003.

 

[Not Bman]

I was talking about a way for them to force people to move to the new office suite, Matt.

Maybe, since it is such a big company that they will still make there profit and all, but I have to go with NetRyder on this one, they would lose too many people if they didn't make it compatible.

 

[madmatt]

Johnny, simply put, if you don't like it, don't buy it. Linux and Mac have other solutions available to you. Stop complaining and accept the fact that they don't answer to you.

You're not a typical computer user, but sometimes you act like one. You should know better.

 

[Geffy]

I was talking about a way for them to force people to move to the new office suite, Matt.

simple, they stop selling the old one. then office et al get bundled or optional extra'd with new computers, soon enough there is a critical mass of office 2k7 users that other people will want to upgrade for various reasons...

 

[Grandmaster]

Documents from Office 97 will open up in 2007. But do the new .docx ones open up in Office 97?

 

[madmatt]

No. They will release file converters for XP and 2003 (or so I've read).

 

[kcnychief]

Actually, the following file formats are backwards compatible to as far as Office 2000 by default:

Word Document (.docx)
Word Macro-enabled Document (.docm)
Excel Workbook (.xlsx)
Excel Macro-enabled Workbook (.xlsm)
Excel Template (.xltx)
Excel Macro-enabled Template (.xltm)
Excel binary Workbook (.xlsb)
Excel Add-in (.xlam)
PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx)
PowerPoint Macro-enabled Presentation (.pptm)
PowerPoint Slide Show (.ppsx)
PowerPoint Macro-enabled Slide Show (.ppsm)
PowerPoint Template (.potx)
PowerPoint Macro-enabled Presentation Template (.potm)

Other than that, you may need a reader.

 

[madmatt]

That's what I meant, a reader. Similar to the one they released for DOC and XLS.

 

[Smoke286]

No. They will release file converters for XP and 2003 (or so I've read).

You are quite right Matt, for example .doc files will work in compatibility mode with Word 2007, but .docx files will not open in Word 2003