Client Advisory: The Scoop on Mac Office & PC’s Office 2007
Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
One critical piece of business software on any Mac is Office 2004. The reason this is so critical is that two versions of office on the two platforms have been completely interoperable since 2004. With the introduction of Office 2007 on the PC and its new and highly-touted XML-based file format, many Mac users are wondering what the impact will be on this critical interoperability. The short story is that Mac Office 2004 users will not be able to open files saved to the new format…yet. In the short term, Microsoft is advising that Mac users request that PC users save to the older 2004 file format until Microsoft releases their file conversion tool.
According to Microsoft’s head of the Mac Business Unit, converters are on their way:
We’re building file-format converters that will allow Mac users to access Office Open XML Format following the general availability of the 2007 Office system at the end of January. We will release a public beta version of the converters in the spring of 2007, and final versions of the converters will ship six to eight weeks after Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is available. For now, we recommend that Mac users advise their friends and colleagues using the 2007 Office system to save their documents as a “Word/Excel/PowerPoint 97-2003 Document” (.doc, .xls, .ppt) to ensure the documents can be easily shared across platforms. [bold, mine]
According to Sheridan Jones, a Group Marketing Manager in the Mac BU, the converters are “expected late March/early April.” Stay tuned.
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