Office 2007
Office 2007 File Compatibility
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Word Equations
Word 2007 has a new equations editor, and equations created using this cannot be edited in earlier versions of Word. Before you create equations in Word 2007, or edit files containing equations, please study our equations advice at http://office2007.lboro.ac.uk/equations.html.
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New File Formats
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access all use new file formats by default, and also use new file extensions to indicate this, the most common being .docx for Word documents, .xlsx for excel spreadsheets, .pptx for PowerPoint presentations. A full list is supplied at the end of this document.
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Create Compatible Documents
To create a new document in a format compatible with previous versions of Office:
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Start Word, PowerPoint, or Excel as appropriate. Click the Office button at the top left.
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Select Save As and then Word 97-2003 Document (or PowerPoint or Excel as appropriate).
Note that the words Compatibility Mode will appear in the title bar after the document name. You will not be able to use new Office 2007 features which are incompatible with earlier versions of Microsoft Office.
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Access
If you want to share an Access database with anyone using Access 2003, then you must use Access 2003 format.
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Compatibility Checker
If you create a document in the new Office 2007 format then you can later save it in Office 97-2003 format, perhaps if a colleague requests it in that format. However, if you have used new Office 2007 features these may either be lost when you save in an earlier format or (e.g. Equations or new SmartArt diagrams) may be uneditable by the recipient. You can check for features not supported in earlier versions of Office:
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Click the Office button at the top left.
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Select Prepare and then Run Compatibility Checker.
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The following is an example of the output Word might give:
If you are happy, click the Office button, select Save As and then Word 97-2003 Document (or PowerPoint or Excel as appropriate).
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Opening an Office 2007 document with Office 2003
If you create a Word, PowerPoint, or Excel document in Office 2007 format, then users of Office 2003 on the Staff Desktop XP service or in a Computer Lab can read the document. This is because we have installed the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack. Students or staff using their own computers will not be able to read the document, unless they install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=3 (at their own risk).
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Using an Office 2007 document with Office 2003
If you create a Word, PowerPoint, or Excel document in Office 2007 format, users of Office 2003 who can read the document may not be able to edit all parts of it since it uses new Office 2007 features. To check what will be editable, use the Compatibility Checker above.
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Opening an Office 2003 document with Office 2007
This is not a problem. The document will open in Compatibility Mode. The words Compatibility Mode will appear in the title bar after the document name. You will not be able to use new Office 2007 features which are incompatible with earlier versions of Microsoft Office.
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Excel named Cells
In Excel you can name cells or ranges of cells giving them any name you wish, provided that the name does not clash with a valid cell reference. Thus you need to be careful with names consisting of letters followed by numbers.
For example: Quarter1 is acceptable, but Q1 is not, as Q1 is a valid cell reference. Indeed Q01 is not a valid name either.
The sizes of spreadsheets have increased with Excel 2007, so that now three letters followed by a number is no longer a valid name, as it is now a valid cell reference.
For example, Qtr1 was a valid name in Excel 2003, but is not a valid name in Excel 2007.
Similarly, Jan09, May2009, Tax1, and VAT1, are no longer allowable cell names.
If you attempt to save an Excel 2003 spreadsheet as Excel 2007 format (.xlsx), and such a name is found, Excel will issue a warning message.
The name will be replaced with an underscore followed by the name, and all formulae and references will be updated. However, you may still need to manually update any references to the name used in VBA code or as text arguments in functions. The change only takes effect after you close and re-open the spreadsheet.
File Types
Files saved with the default "x" ending cannot include Macros or ActiveX controls. Files with Macros or ActiveX controls have an "m" ending. Thus you can check whether a document from an untrusted source can do something untoward with an automatic macro (if it ends with "m" it can do something untoward).
Word 2007 file types
- .docx
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Document
- .docm
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Macro-enabled Document
- .dotx
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Template
- .dotm
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Macro-enabled Template
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Word 2007 can also save to .htm or .html HTML web page format. Click the Office button at the top left, then select Save As, Other Formats, and then the Save As dialogue will appear. In the Save as type drop-down menu select Web Page, Filtered ("Web Page" produces larger files which take longer to download). |
Excel 2007 file types
- .xlsx
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Workbook
- .xlsm
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Macro-enabled Workbook
- .xltx
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Template
- .xltm
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Macro-enabled Template
- .xlsb
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Non-XML binary workbook
- .xlam
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Macro-enabled Add-in
PowerPoint 2007 file types
- .pptx
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Presentation
- .pptm
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Macro-enabled Presentation
- .potx
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Template
- .potm
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Macro-enabled Template
- .ppam
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Macro-enabled Add-in
- .ppsx
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Show
- .ppsm
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Macro-enabled Show
- .sldx
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Slide
- .sldm
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Macro-enabled Slide
- .thmx
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Office 2007 Theme
Access 2007 file type
- .accdb
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Access 2007 Database