On several occasions over the past few weeks I've been sent documents (Word and Excel) that have been created using Microsoft Office 2007. If you weren't aware, documents produced in Office 2007 are not compatible with Office 2003 (the version I still use). Microsoft Office 2007 is now on sale and is the software that many of the new Vista based computers are coming bundled with.

You can tell an Office 2007 document by the letter x at the end if its file extension - example: myresume.docx, mybudget.xlsx, mypresentation.pptx. In the "good old days"  of Office 2003, the extensions were: MS Word (.doc), MS Excel (.xls) and MS PowerPoint (.ppt) - these have now all had the letter X appended to them. If you've received one as an attachment from someone, you might have struggled to open it.

There's two solutions to this problem:

1)If it's an MS Word document, ask the person who sent it to you to re-save it as a MS Word 2003 version (within their program, they can go to File > Save As > MS Word 2003).

To be honest with you though, if someone sent you a MS Office 2007 attachment, they were likely oblivious to the notion that their software might not be backwardly compatible with older versions of Word (or Excel). As such, asking them to re-save the document in an older format might cause them to overload... go to point 2.

2) You can download a converter from Microsoft that will upgrade your old Office 2003 and give it the ability to open/read the new format documents that MS Office 2007 is creating. The download is free and takes about 10 minutes.

Go to: Microsoft Office 2003/2007 Document Converter

Once you install this software, you'll find that all is good again in the world...

~ For Desktop computer support, consider calling New Bedford Internet at 508.415.8648. Don't waste hours trying to fight with technology, call the IT experts. Get the problem solved quickly, and get your staff back to work faster.~

Paul Allen

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Paul Allen is president of New Bedford Internet, a leading web site design and development company and an IT technology solution provider. Paul is also founder of NewBedford360.com, New Bedford's community web site.

A long time advocate of technology, particularly the internet, Paul is committed to helping individuals and organizations in the Southcoast Massachusetts communities of New Bedford, Dartmouth, Fall River, Westport, Fairhaven, Mattapoisett and beyond, find their voice (and customers) on the internet.

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