Word 2007 vs Word 2003

[Guest]

I have been asked to investigate the upgrate to Word 2007 by my supervisor.
We are concerned that if we upgrate to Word 2007 that others whom we deal
with that are still using Word 2003 won't be able to read our documents. I
have read previously in this discussion board that the 'save as Word 2003'
isn't working properly. My question is this, "Would we have to save as Word
2003 every time we expected someone might not have 2007?" or rather "Would
others who have Word 2003 be able to read our Word 2007 documents saved as
Word 2007?"
Also, the pro's and con's of upgrading would be appreciated.
Hope I'm not to confusing.
We are NOT using Windows Vista and will not in the forseeable future. We are
NOT using Outlook either.
Thanks,
Courious in NC

 

[Graham Mayor]

This is a difficult question. On a productivity level, you would be better
sticking to Word 2003. Your staff are familiar with it and for the time
being it is not going away. I still find that I revert to Word 2003 whenever
I want to do something complicated, or get a quick answer to a problem,
mainly because it is so familiar. On the other hand, Word 2007 is in many
ways a more elegant and stable software platform, more approachable by new
users and and its new XML document format is one of its better points.

However, if you go ahead, those of your contacts who are still using Word
2003 will not be able to open native Word 2007 documents without installing
the conversion pack. As time goes on, more people will do this, but you
should not expect them to. You will have to save in the older Word document
format.


--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>