Faculty and Students:

It has come to our attention, many Virtual Classroom users are having difficulties with downloading and viewing assignments, presentations, and spreadsheets that have been created in Office 2007 (Word, PowerPoint, Excel). Unfortunately, files created in the latest version of Office are not directly compatible with older versions of the product since a new file system has been implemented. (You can see the difference by looking at the file extension at the end of the file name - .docx .xlsx and .pptx). To help eliminate compatibility issues for our users of Office 2003 or older, please follow the instructions listed below when saving your files:

• Microsoft Word 2007:
  • Click on the Office button
    
  • Click on Word Options
  • Click on Save
  • Click on Save files in this format: Word 97-2003 document (*.doc)
    
• Microsoft Excel 2007:
  • Click on the Office button
  • Click on Excel Options
  • Click on Save
  • Click on Save files in this format: Excel 97-2003 document (*.xls)
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2007
  • Click on the Office button
  • Click on PowerPoint Options
  • Click on Save
  • Click on Save files in this format: PowerPoint 97-2003 document (*.ppt)

Users of Office 2000, XP, or 2003:
If you are a user of Office 2003 or older and experience difficulties opening a file created in an Office 2007 based product, please download and install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack. The compatibility pack can be used to open, edit, and even save documents in the new Office 2007 format. To download and install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack, please click here.

Please note: A version of the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack is available for users of Office for Mac