We get a lot of emails from people about why their new office 2007 files end in a X. People have sent in questions asking about why their files are in the archive format or formated for Mac OS X...
Microsoft has introduced new file types in 2007 (The X Stands for XML) if all you want is for your machines running office 97, 2000, XP 2002 or 2003 to be able to open these file types read this article here for the compatibility patch.
Users on 2007 can opt to do a "Save As" and save as the older file type. But now you as an Admin of a Active Directory domain can force your users default file type to once again be doc or xls. This requires Group Policy and adding templates to your schema. Check out the walk through below from MyDigitalLife.
To enable managing of file save options via GPO, firstly download 2007 Office System Administrative Templates (ADM), and then add the Microsoft Office 2007 Administrative Templates to the Group Policy Management Console. In the left pane of the Group Policy Management Console, double-click User Configuration, and then double-click Administrative Templates (Classic Administrative Templates (ADM) in Windows Vista). Then follows the following steps to set and change the default saving file format in Office 2007 programs.
To change default file save options in Office Excel 2007
- Double-click Microsoft Office Excel 2007, double-click Excel Options, and click Save.
- In the right pane, right-click Save Excel files as, and select Properties.
- In Save files in this format, select Enabled.
- In the drop-down box, select a default file save format.
- Click Apply to save the settings.
To change options for Word or Powerpoint repeat the above steps but double click the correct application in step 1.
How are you coping with the new file types? What do you do in your enviroment?
_TheAdminX_
