Tricks for Working with Office 2008 files
If you’re using Microsoft Office 2004 and you need to open files created with Office 2008, there are several programs on your Mac that you can use instead.
For example, TextEdit can open and edit Word files, and if you have iWork, you can use Pages. Keynote can open PowerPoint files and Numbers can open Excel files.
If you don’t have iWork installed, you can have the creator save the file as an earlier version by choosing File> Save As. And as a last resort, download Microsoft’s free Open XML File Format Converter to convert Office 2008 files into a format Office 2004 can read, at Microsoft’s website.
Jeff Gamet is a contributing editor for Design Tools Monthly, the executive summary of graphic design news. He is also the morning editor and reviews editor for The Mac Observer and iPodObserver.com, and contributing writer for Layers Magazine and Photoshop User. He writes the InBrief column for InDesign Magazine, and is the author of “The Designer’s Guide to Mac OS X,” from Peachpit Press
When Jeff isn’t writing about the graphic design world, he’s talking about it on the Design Tools Weekly podcast with co-host Jay Nelson. He also talks about Apple and the Mac world every week on The Mac Observer’s Apple Weekly Report.
Jeff studies, tests and reviews new software and technologies for the Macintosh community as well as the design and print industries. He is a former Pre-press specialist, and has nearly 25 years experience with computer technology. Jeff trains, lectures and consults on techniques for more efficiently using Mac OS X in creative environments throughout the country.
In the rare moments when he can get away from his MacBook Pro, Jeff spends his time climbing and biking in the Colorado mountains.