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Sharing Documents: Office 2003 – 2007 / 2010

There are two ways to ensure Office 2003 users can read and work on Office 2007 files – the Microsoft Converter and the Save As option.

The Microsoft Converter

If you’re using Office 2003, but are trying to view files that were created with Office 2007 or 2010, there’s a converter that will translate files for you. To easily view files that were saved in the Office 2007 or 2010 format:

  • Go to http://www.microsoft. com/downloads/Search.aspx?displaylang=en
  • Look under Popular Downloads.
  • Click on “Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 file formats.”
  • Download the converter and you will be able to read Office 2007 files even if you continue to be a Office 2003 user.

The “Save As” Option

If you are an Office 2007 or 2010 user and want to ensure that users of older versions can read your files, you can save the files as ‘older’ documents.  However, using this option would mean that some features found only in 2007 or 2010 would be lost as it is made backward compatible.