A friend of mine recently bought Microsoft Office 2007, but now I'm not able to open the files he sends me on Office 2003 anymore. Why is this and is there a way to open the files?

Let me put your mind at ease straight away: there is indeed a way for you to open Office 2007 files in Office 2003 — in fact, there's two!

The reason why you can't open his files, is because Microsoft has introduced a new way of saving the files, apparently in an effort to make it easier for Office files to be used on different platforms (e.g. between computers and cellphones).

The downside to this, however, is that Office 2007 files are no longer compatible with older versions of Office.

But fear not, there are two ways around it:

  1. Ask your friend to save the document that he's going to send you as an Office 2003 document. You'll then be able to open the document with ease, as before. Note, however, that he might lose some of his format settings on the document when he saves it.

  2. Alternatively, download and install the official compatibility pack from Microsoft. When installed, this pack will make it possible for you to open any Office 2007 document. Again, the formatting might look a bit weird, but at least you'll be able to open the documents.