Word 2007 compatability with Word 2003

[Guest]

If a Word 2007 document is saved with a .doc ending and not the format for
Word 2007, does that document lose complete functionality in Word 2007? Can
all Word 2007 documents be saved with a .doc ending so that users of Word
2003 can read them? Is there any downside to not using the Word 2007 format?

 

[Dawn Crosier, Word MVP]

If you save your documents in 2007 with Word 97-2003 compatibility turned
on, then anyone with one of those versions will be able to read your
documents. When you are working with a document that has the compatibility
turned on, then certain features in your ribbon will be grayed out to
indicate that they are not compatible with 97-2003 documents. For instance,
Themes are not compatible.

--
Dawn Crosier
Microsoft MVP
"Education Lasts a Lifetime"

This message was posted to a newsgroup, Please post replies and questions
to the group so that others can learn as well.

 

[Guest]

Since compatability is essential for Emailed documents, what other functions
or features will I lose if I turn on Word 97-2003 compatability? I am
considering installing Word 2007, but if compatabilty and loss of features
and functions is a major issue I'll stay with Word 2003.

 

[Jay Freedman]

No, the document does not "lose complete functionality" in Word 2007.
There are a few things that have less functionality when you work in
Compatibility Mode, such as the fancy new SmartArt graphics and the
new Equation Editor, but if you didn't plan to use them anyway, you
have all the other functions of Word 2007. For a list of the
differences, see
http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview.aspx?AssetID=HA101172971033&ns=WINWORD&lcid=1033

If you save all documents in Word 2003 .doc format, the most
noticeable difference will be that the files are larger, because the
..docx format is really a zip file so everything is compressed.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.