In case you haven’t heard, the new Windows version of Microsoft Office, Office 2007, uses this new file format called “Office Open XML”. The problem, though, is that it’s incompatible with Office for Mac 2004, the current iteration of the suite for us Apple users. Office 2008, planned for the second half of this year, will be fully compatible with this new format.
Today though, Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit released a beta version of a converter that allows Word 2004 to read Office Open XML files created by Word 2007 on Windows. Unfortunately, it can’t convert Excel and Powerpoint documents — for that, you’ll have to wait until sometime this summer.
It’s worth noting that this converter only allows you to read the new format. That means you’ll have to save the documents in the old .doc format, which Word 2007 can still read and output. Microsoft will releases a final version of the converter that’ll offer read/write capabilities, but only six to eight weeks after Office 2008. Until then, be very patient, and perhaps advise your Windows friends to send you their Office documents in the old formats.
