Microsoft has released an update to Microsoft Office 2003, XP (2002) and 2000. With this update, you will have the ability to open, edit, save Office 2007 documents in their new format. This update will cover word processing, spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations.

Generally, Office 2007 users have been going into the Options for each Windows component and changing the default file format to compatibility mode, preserving the format of earlier Office versions. This will usually not make a difference, though if you used some new features of Office, they will get lost. The update enables organizations and their partners to migrate to new Office at their own pace.

The update does not cover Microsoft Access. To main compatibility there, Office 2007 database users need to continue to work in compatibility mode.