Newsletter Archives

• If you’re using the newer Office file formats in older versions of Office, the Compatibility Pack is going away in April

  Posted on March 5, 2018 at 11:23 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  As many of you know, Microsoft changed the format of Office documents in Office 2007. The old DOC documents became DOCX, XLS workbooks became XLSX, PPT Powerpoint stacks became PPTX, and various additional file formats (templates and the like) changed.

  The net result was that anybody who wanted to use Office 2003 to open or edit Office 2007 or later documents was up the ol’ creek without a paddle.

  That’s where the Office Compatibility Pack comes into play. There’s a complex description in KB 924074, but the upshot is that Office Compatibility Pack works like a babel fish for Office 2003 and the (free) Word, Excel and PowerPoint viewers.

  Now comes word that Microsoft is discontinuing the Office Compatibility Pack in April. Specifically, the OCP download page now says:

  The Office Compatibility Pack is being retired in April, 2018. At that time, it will no longer be available for download and will no longer receive security updates.

  For most of you that won’t make any difference. But if you’re still running Office 2003 (which is a mighty decent version!), it’d be wise to get the OCP installed now.

  Thx JNP.

  Office News Office Compatibility Pack

• Office Compatibility Pack update

  Posted on April 23, 2009 at 08:50 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  If you use Office 2003, Office XP or Office 2000, you need to download and install the latest Office Compatibility Pack, version 3. Microsoft posted it a few hours ago.

  The Office Compatibility Pack lets you use Office 2003, XP or 2000 programs to open files that were saved in Office 2007 format.

  If you haven’t applied all outstanding updates to your copy of Office 2003, XP or 2000, there’s a list of the specific patches that you need to apply, prior to installing the Compatibility Pack, in Knowledge Base article KB 924074. If you’ve been updating Office regularly (except for this month’s patches), you’re in good shape.

  Although the docs don’t say it, I think it’s likely that this new version replaces the old version of the Compatibility Pack, along with its Service Pack. Start with a clean slate and get version 3.0. There’s no Office Genuine Advantage check – just download and install it, no problems.

  If anyone has ever told you that they can’t open your document, spreadsheet, or presentation, the first thing to check is whether you saved it in Office 2007 format, and they’re trying to open it with an earlier version of Office. If that’s the case, this is the cure.

  Office News KB 924074, Office 2007, Office Compatibility Pack