Microsoft has developed a download that will allow you to open the new 2007 versions of Word and Excel without having to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007. It is called the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. They explain here how to install it. It is very straight forward.

This download is not the same as the "Viewer" software you can download. The viewer software lets you see a file, but it will not allow you to edit the file. The viewer is for people who do not have Microsoft Office, or may have Microsoft Works which is very different but does the same job. Microsoft has further information on the new file formats here

Another option is to download the OpenOffice equivalent of Microsoft office. It costs nothing and will open most file type, except the new 2007 versions from Microsoft. It is better than Microsoft Works. You can read all about it here. It has all the equivalent modules that Microsoft office has, word processing, spreadsheets and more.

Google has Google Docs which allows you do type word documents and spreadsheets without the need for any software installed on your machine. Google uses your web browser. It does not have all the bells and whistles of Microsoft office but it does the job of typing letters and simple spreadsheets and you get the benefit of having all your files online where you can work on them wherever and whenever you want. There are many other similar services around.

If you see a file and the file extension has an 'x' at the end like myfile.docx or myfile.xlsx, then it is the new Microsoft 2007 office format.

Another method is to get the person who gave you the file to save it in a format you can open. They have that ability, so get them to use it if you need them too.

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