Stick with standard Office file formats
You can minimize file-compatibility issues by standardizing on the most common file formats. By default, OpenOffice.org saves files in Open Document Format (ODF). Microsoft’s by-the-book support for ODF, unfortunately, breaks some spreadsheet files, according to a recent ZDNet blog post.
OpenOffice reads and writes Office 2007’s default .docx and .xlsx XML file formats. But the older .doc and .xls formats are still the ones most often used. I suggest that you make the classic Office formats your defaults in OpenOffice. To set .doc as the document default, for example, open any OpenOffice program and do the following:
Step 1. Choose Tools, Options;
Step 2. Select General under Load/Save;
Step 3. Click Text Document under Document type in the Default file format and ODF settings section;
Step 4. Choose Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP in the Always save as drop-down menu and click OK.
To make .xls the default worksheet format, open the same dialog box and follow the same steps, with the following differences:
Step 1. Choose Spreadsheet under Document type in the Default file format and ODF settings section;
Step 2. Choose Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP in the Always save as drop-down list and click OK.
Tags: compatibility issues, document format, docx, excel, File, file format, Format, Microsoft, microsoft word, Office, Office 2007, openoffice, spreadsheet, word, worksheet, xml, xml file
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