Comments on: Microsoft Goes Back To Bad Old Ways With Office 2007 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/ Simon Brocklehurst's Technology Blog Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:20:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Hidayat http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-220811 Hidayat Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:20:33 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-220811 Hi, I have problem with MS 2007. Previously, I used MS word and power point 2003 to do my works that involved some jpg pictures. But, once I changed to MS 2007 some of the jpgs got corrupted (blur or replaced by letter X). I just noticed this after do some editing and save the file to compatible mode 97-2003. Then, I checked the pictures in word 2003, still blur. So, I try to open other file that has not yet being edited in MS 2007. I found the same thing happen. Then, I checked the pictures in MS 2003. The pictures is still OK. I hope somebody can consult me about this matter. TQ Hi,
I have problem with MS 2007. Previously, I used MS word and power point 2003 to do my works that involved some jpg pictures. But, once I changed to MS 2007 some of the jpgs got corrupted (blur or replaced by letter X). I just noticed this after do some editing and save the file to compatible mode 97-2003. Then, I checked the pictures in word 2003, still blur.

So, I try to open other file that has not yet being edited in MS 2007. I found the same thing happen. Then, I checked the pictures in MS 2003. The pictures is still OK.

I hope somebody can consult me about this matter. TQ

]]> By: Dr Dox’ Computer Clinic » Blog Archive » Windows vs Mac - Read Our Verdict http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-121675 Dr Dox’ Computer Clinic » Blog Archive » Windows vs Mac - Read Our Verdict Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:43:30 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-121675 [...] from Microsoft. Did you know that Office can’t natively even read some of Microsoft’s older DOC files? I hope you don’t have important documents dating back a decade or so. Or want to keep [...] [...] from Microsoft. Did you know that Office can’t natively even read some of Microsoft’s older DOC files? I hope you don’t have important documents dating back a decade or so. Or want to keep [...]

]]> By: Andera Weisberger http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-110138 Andera Weisberger Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:44:51 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-110138 I would like to underscore some of the findings above -- Office 2007 is horrendous in its backward compatibility with earlier versions of Office. This is probably a good indicator that a switch to Open Office offers a smoother and more productive work environment for others experiencing the same issues with 2007. Way to go Microsoft -- next time maybe think things through a bit more... I would like to underscore some of the findings above — Office 2007 is horrendous in its backward compatibility with earlier versions of Office.

This is probably a good indicator that a switch to Open Office offers a smoother and more productive work environment for others experiencing the same issues with 2007.

Way to go Microsoft — next time maybe think things through a bit more…

]]> By: Julie Watson http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-93525 Julie Watson Sun, 15 Jul 2007 19:51:13 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-93525 sorry for the crappy formatting... I pasted in html.... sorry for the crappy formatting… I pasted in html….

]]> By: Julie Watson http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-93524 Julie Watson Sun, 15 Jul 2007 19:49:38 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-93524 An Office 2007 Program Manager at Microsoft ( ) wrote a <a href="http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/2f7456c2-67e6-4948-9e76-81fce661210e1033.mspx?mfr=true" rel="nofollow">series of blog posts</a> on the Microsoft Office Word Team blog regarding “Compatibility in Word 2007”: . In the post titled: “Compatibility in Word 2007 – Part IV”, he states: <blockquote> “As promised here is a list of features that can be refreshed when the document is re-converted to Full Functionality Mode. SmartArt Charts Images Equation</blockquote> This is <b>not true</b> if the document containing SmartArt or Equations is ever saved in the new format (.docx or .docm) by Word 2003 with compatibility pack. It is also not true if Picture Tools are used on the graphic-representation of the SmartArt… either from within Word 2007 in compatibility mode or Word 2003. All of these scenarios will BREAK FEATURE REFRESH, and PERMANENTLY CONVERT SmartArt and Equation objects to images... thus rendering them un-editable with the new features ever again. The step-by-step instructions on how to re-create the problem are at the end of this email. I have tested this on two completely separate installations of Office 2007 and Office 2003 with the compatibility pack, and I have posted this to the discussions groups and the behavior has been verified by 3 other MVPs. I am the Project Manager responsible for my company’s deployment of Office 2007 to 20,000+ workstations. At this point, there are so many bugs and inconsistencies with the level of compatibility of the new features with Office 2003, that I am prepared to halt all migration efforts until the issues have <b><i>at the very least</i></b> been <b><i>acknowledged</i></b> by Microsoft. The examples below are just a few of the many inconsistencies I’ve discovered: Part 1: How to Break Feature Refresh by Saving to the new format (.docx) from Word 2003 with Compatibility Pack In Word 2007, create a SmartArt Object and an Equation Object, and save the document in the new.docx format. In Word 2003 with the latest compatibility pack installed, open the document. Insert some text, but do not make any changes to either SmartArt or Equation object whatsover. Re-save the document in the .docx format. In Word 2007, open the document. Notice that it opens in Compatibility mode. Do not make any changes to the document whatsoever. Do an "Office Button / Save As / Word Document" to save it again over the same filename. Note: The only way to get it "out of compatibility mode" so that you can access the SmartArt tool again is to re-save it to the .docx format using Office Button / Save As / Word Document". The regular "Office Button / Save" or the save button in the Quick Access toolbar won't work to get back to compatibility mode. Notice that once out of compatibility mode, both SmartArt and Equation objects have been PERMANENTLY CONVERTED into a graphic image. According to the <a href="http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/2f7456c2-67e6-4948-9e76-81fce661210e1033.mspx?mfr=true" rel="nofollow">Office 2007 resource kit</a>, as well as the <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/microsoft_office_word/archive/2006/09/27/774611.aspx" rel="nofollow">blog posts by the Office 2007 Program Manager</a>, this should not happen. The problem also occurs when Word 2007 saves it to the legacy format, and Word 2003 saves "back up to" the new format. On the other hand, if Word 2007 saves the document to the legacy 97-2003 format (.doc), Word 2003 w/compatibility pack adds some text and saves again in the legacy format, and then Word 2007 opens and re-saves back to the new format, the SmartArt and Equation objects refresh perfectly!!! Part 2: How to Break Feature Refresh by Using the Picture Tools within Word 2007 Start a new document in Word 2007. Insert 12 items of SmartArt. Insert 12 Equations. Save the document to the 97-2003 format. This should switch it into compatibility mode, and the SmartArt Objects will be presented as images. For each of the SmartArt and Equation objects, click on each and make the adjustments listed below using the Picture Tools (Clicking on an object causes the Picture Tools menu to appear above the Format tab). The only exception is the last adjustment, which should be made with the right-click / Format Picture menu. Note the results in the table. “X” indicates that the object is permanently converted when saved back to the new .docx format:   Adjustment SmartArt Objects Equation Objects 1.   Adjust the Brightness. X   2.   Adjust the Contrast. X   3.   Recolor to greyscale. X   4.   Add a Shadow Effect. X   5.   Crop the object X   6.   Compress.     7.   Rotate the object X X 8.   Change the text wrapping   X 9.   Change the Object’s Height and/or Width     10.                Change the text wrapping. (activates border tools). Change the border color to red. X X 11.                Change the text wrapping. (activates align tools). Align Right.   X 12.                R click / format picture / layout / behind text   X ** Note: The results are the same if you save the document in the NEW docx format, open it in Word 2003+compatibility pack, make the modifications, save to the legacy format, open in Word 2007 and save back to the .docx format. An Office 2007 Program Manager at Microsoft ( ) wrote a series of blog posts on the Microsoft Office
Word Team blog regarding “Compatibility in Word 2007”: .
In the post titled: “Compatibility in Word
2007 – Part IV”, he states:

“As promised here is a list of features that
can be refreshed when the document is re-converted to Full Functionality Mode.

SmartArt
Charts
Images
Equation

This is not true if the document
containing SmartArt or Equations is ever saved in the new format (.docx or
.docm) by Word 2003 with compatibility pack. It is also not true if Picture
Tools are used on the graphic-representation of the SmartArt… either from
within Word 2007 in compatibility mode or Word 2003. All of these scenarios
will BREAK FEATURE REFRESH, and PERMANENTLY CONVERT SmartArt and Equation objects
to images… thus rendering them un-editable with the new features ever again.
The step-by-step instructions on how to re-create
the problem are at the end of this email. I have tested this on two completely
separate installations of Office 2007 and Office 2003 with the compatibility
pack, and I have posted this to the discussions groups and the behavior has
been verified by 3 other MVPs.
I am the Project Manager responsible for my
company’s deployment of Office 2007 to 20,000+ workstations. At this point,
there are so many bugs and inconsistencies with the level of compatibility of
the new features with Office 2003, that I am prepared to halt all migration
efforts until the issues have at the very least been acknowledged by Microsoft.
The examples below are just a
few of the many inconsistencies I’ve discovered:
Part 1: How to Break Feature Refresh by
Saving to the new format (.docx) from Word 2003 with Compatibility Pack
In Word 2007, create a SmartArt Object and an
Equation Object, and save the document in the new.docx format.
In Word 2003 with the latest compatibility
pack installed, open the document. Insert some text, but do not make any
changes to either SmartArt or Equation object whatsover. Re-save the document
in the .docx format.
In Word 2007, open the document. Notice that
it opens in Compatibility mode. Do not make any changes to the document
whatsoever.
Do an "Office Button / Save As / Word
Document" to save it again over the same filename.
Note: The only way to get it "out of
compatibility mode" so that you can access the SmartArt tool again is to
re-save it to the .docx format using Office Button / Save As / Word
Document". The regular "Office Button / Save" or the save button
in the Quick Access toolbar won’t work to get back to compatibility mode.
Notice that once out of compatibility mode,
both SmartArt and Equation objects have been PERMANENTLY CONVERTED into a
graphic image.
According to the Office 2007 resource kit,
as well as the blog posts by the Office 2007 Program Manager, this should not happen.
The problem also occurs when Word 2007 saves
it to the legacy format, and Word 2003 saves "back up to" the new
format.
On the other hand, if Word 2007 saves the
document to the legacy 97-2003 format (.doc), Word 2003 w/compatibility pack
adds some text and saves again in the legacy format, and then Word 2007 opens
and re-saves back to the new format, the SmartArt and Equation objects refresh perfectly!!!
Part 2: How to Break Feature Refresh by Using
the Picture Tools within Word 2007
Start a new document in Word 2007.
Insert 12 items of SmartArt.
Insert 12 Equations.
Save the document to the 97-2003 format. This
should switch it into compatibility mode, and the SmartArt Objects will be presented
as images.
For each of the SmartArt and Equation objects,
click on each and make the adjustments listed below using the Picture Tools (Clicking
on an object causes the Picture Tools menu to appear above the Format tab). The
only exception is the last adjustment, which should be made with the
right-click / Format Picture menu.
Note the results in the table. “X” indicates
that the object is permanently converted when saved back to the new .docx
format:

 
Adjustment
SmartArt
Objects
Equation
Objects

1.  
Adjust
the Brightness.
X
 

2.  
Adjust
the Contrast.
X
 

3.  
Recolor
to greyscale.
X
 

4.  
Add
a Shadow Effect.
X
 

5.  
Crop
the object
X
 

6.  
Compress.
 
 

7.  
Rotate
the object
X
X

8.  
Change
the text wrapping
 
X

9.  
Change
the Object’s Height and/or Width
 
 

10.               
Change
the text wrapping. (activates border tools). Change the border color to
red.
X
X

11.               
Change
the text wrapping. (activates align tools). Align Right.
 
X

12.               
R click / format
picture / layout / behind text
 
X

** Note: The results are the same if
you save the document in the NEW docx format, open it in Word
2003+compatibility pack, make the modifications, save to the legacy format,
open in Word 2007 and save back to the .docx format.

]]> By: Asam Bashir http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-17512 Asam Bashir Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:39:36 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-17512 http://10layers.com/2007/01/2010-apple-larger-than-microsoft/ http://10layers.com/2007/01/2010-apple-larger-than-microsoft/

]]> By: Asam Bashir http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-17508 Asam Bashir Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:34:09 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-17508 Compare and contract to, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/29/AR2007012901450.html?nav=most_emaile Compare and contract to,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/29/AR2007012901450.html?nav=most_emaile

]]> By: Asam Bashir http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-17507 Asam Bashir Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:30:36 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-17507 http://appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2449 Asam.... http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/ Last sentence, Coming spring 2007. Maybe with final Office 2008 for Mac OS X. Which would leave WWDC June 2007 open for intro of new processors and quad-cores and new LED backlight technology. Ultra Yum.... Asam.... http://appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2449

Asam….

http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/

Last sentence,

Coming spring 2007. Maybe with final Office 2008 for Mac OS X.

Which would leave WWDC June 2007 open for intro of new processors and
quad-cores and new LED backlight technology.

Ultra Yum….

Asam….

]]> By: Rob Relyea http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-17134 Rob Relyea Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:56:29 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-17134 Simon- Yes, a powerpoint exporter to WPF/E is interesting. I agree. Thanks, Rob Simon-
Yes, a powerpoint exporter to WPF/E is interesting. I agree.
Thanks, Rob

]]> By: simon http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-16908 simon Sun, 28 Jan 2007 00:42:49 +0000 http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/27/microsoft-goes-back-to-bad-old-days-with-office-2007/#comment-16908 Rob, Many thanks for that. I will be trying to make small example documents that reproduce the backwards compatibility problems I observe. However, that the very first document I tried to check for backwards compatibility failed the test makes me think there's going to be more than a few problems here. I do hope I'm wrong. As for installing the new docx, xlsx, pptx support in older versions of Office - I think it's a great idea. I sure hope this fixes the issues with PowerPoint 2007 presentations being virtually useless if people are collaborating with non-Office 2007 users. I will give it a try - I'd love to be able to use PowerPoint 2007 for real work. BTW talking of PowerPoint - I sure hope there's going to be a great WPF/E export option coming soon for PowerPoint - that could be a useful little feature for driving adoption WPF/E browser-plug-in by making it super-easy to create lots of content. As you can see, I'm liking the look of WPF/E so far... http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/15/will-wpfe-destroy-flash-flash-lite-and-java-me/ Rob,

Many thanks for that. I will be trying to make small example documents that reproduce the backwards compatibility problems I observe. However, that the very first document I tried to check for backwards compatibility failed the test makes me think there’s going to be more than a few problems here. I do hope I’m wrong.

As for installing the new docx, xlsx, pptx support in older versions of Office - I think it’s a great idea. I sure hope this fixes the issues with PowerPoint 2007 presentations being virtually useless if people are collaborating with non-Office 2007 users. I will give it a try - I’d love to be able to use PowerPoint 2007 for real work.

BTW talking of PowerPoint - I sure hope there’s going to be a great WPF/E export option coming soon for PowerPoint - that could be a useful little feature for driving adoption WPF/E browser-plug-in by making it super-easy to create lots of content. As you can see, I’m liking the look of WPF/E so far…

http://www.psynixis.com/blog/2007/01/15/will-wpfe-destroy-flash-flash-lite-and-java-me/

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