Tid Bits of Help: Microsoft 2007 -- The Benefits of Office XML Formats Wortechologies Wortechologies

Microsoft 2007 -- The Benefits of Office XML Formats

Microsoft programs used to save in ASCII format and now saves in XML format. For those of us who don't know what the heck that means, the following is the info I gleaned off the Microsoft website. I've included the link for your research.

Integration of business information with documents Office XML Formats enable rapid creation of documents from disparate data sources, accelerating document assembly, data mining, and content reuse. Exchanging data between Microsoft Office applications and enterprise business systems is simplified alter information inside a Microsoft Office document or create a document from scratch using standard tools and technologies; access to Microsoft Office applications is not required. Employees can improve productivity by publishing, searching, and reusing information more quickly and accurately in the environment they choose.

Open and royalty-free specification Office XML Formats are based on industry standard XML and ZIP technologies, support full integration by any technology provider, and are available via a royalty-free license. Format specifications will be published and made available under the same royalty-free license that exists for the Microsoft Office 2003 Reference Schemas openly offered and available for broad industry use.

Compact, robust file format Smaller file sizes and improved recovery of corrupted documents enable Microsoft Office users to operate efficiently and confidently and reduces the risk of lost information. Office XML Formats use ZIP compression technology to store documents offering potential cost savings as it reduces the disk space required to store files and decreases the bandwidth needed to transport files by e-mail, over networks, and across the Web.

Microsoft developed the Office XML Formats to respond to customer requests for more rapid document creation from disparate data sources and to extend our commitment to industry-standard XML. By creating a new robust, yet compact, structure based on industry standards such as XML and ZIP, the new default file formats speed document creation while reducing the size of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files and improving data recovery in corrupted files.

This comes straight from Microsoft and the link is: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101723691033.aspx

Microsoft has created a FREE compatibility pack converter (sounds like what we have to do for TV), the link for that is: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en

For those of us using this for our business; not only do we have to convenience OUR clients to download the compatibility pack, but we have to convenience them to convenience THEIR clients to do the same thing. And all of this just to get a PowerPoint presentation to be manageable -- the other Office programs (so far) seem to convert -- "dummy down" just fine.

Hello, I am Liz LaClair, President of Virtually Helps, LLC. I have researched and compiled this information with the idea of helping my friends, potential clients and readers. Knowing that sometimes change is a challenge and not always received well, my goal is to shed some light and guide you through the new set up for Office 2007. I hope you find this to be helpful.

©Research compiled and written by Liz LaClair, President of Virtually Helps, LLC

About the Author
Liz LaClair is the President of Virtually Helps, LLC (a virtual administrative assistant services company). She is passionate and driven to make her clients "look good" to their clients and assists her clients in various ways. Liz enjoys her work and believes that you have to have fun! Go to her virtual office executive assistant site, at http://www.virtuallyhelps.com and download her free ebook: Tid Bits of Help for Microsoft Office. Liz LaClair may be contacted at http://www.virtuallyhelps.com. Click here to view more articles by Liz LaClair.