microsoft office

[Immi666]

i have office 2007 on my computer at home, but i'm here at my mums where the computer only has 2000. i'm trying to do some work from my usb pen but i cant open any of the files without it being gobbledegook. they're all .DOCX files. am i screwed until i get home, or is there a way to convert the files or something?

[mushroom25]

could be that your files aren't retro-compatible, ie you need the latest version of Office to open them. in which case you'll need the same latest version to convert them (by doing a "save as" earlier version, or convert to .rtf format). are there any neighbours or friends who can help with a modern version of Office?

[stevie21]

Try putting the latest version of Open Office on your Mum's PC and see if that'll open them? That's a free download.

Failing that, it is as above. Use the newer version and "save as"

[Ralph]

Office 2007 is still in Beta, so it's quite easy to get hold of. You can download it from here.

Be warned that if you install Outlook, there may be conflicts with the 2000 version already installed, best to not install Outlook probably. All the other applications will sit happily alongside their older brothers.

[wideboy]

I think that Microsoft have changed the file formats in Office 2007 (one reason why people are wary of moving to 2007). Not sure if Open Office will even open them.

[fo3nix]

Your files, as the above point out, are new files that only Office 2007 can read. OpenOffice may be able to read them too, but I have a feeling they're still properly implementing it.

It's a beta product though, so I'd suggest not even using it anyway. Get 2007, and re-save it as a Word 2000 document.