MS Word 2007 not so good

[dolphin]

Watching the late news tonight...MS Word 2007 doesn't look too good. If you type a document in 2007...it cannot be read by a Word 2003 user unless you download conversion software among other things.

MS Word 2007

[()]

I can't even update my MS Word I have on my iMac duo-core.  If I do, it asks for the serial number, but will not recognize it.  So I have to reinstall it all over again, and can't even do any of the updates on it


edit <I’ve edited this post to remove what I consider unwarranted language and a referral to another product totally unrelated.

I'm tired of dealing with you Nutterbutter. If you continue to push the issue I will ban you. This is your last warning.

[pendragon]

NB,

To (re)enter a M$ Word serial number, it is not necessary to reinstall Word.

This most always is the solution:

1. Quit all M$ applications.
2. Remove the following:
   A. ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Microsoft Office Settings (11).
   B. /Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Office/OfficePID. NOTE: This is normally an invisible file, so you may need a utility like FileBuddy to make the file visible so that it can then be deleted.
3. Relaunch Word and reregister.

P.S.
FWIW: A bit of background-

With people getting new machines, creating home networks, and using Migration Assistant to update their new machine from an older one, the M$ serial number issue is really quite common.

When Office is run, M$ (like other developers) checks for duplicate serial numbers on the network. Even though the user has a (new) valid serial number to enter, he can’t register it because he copied (used) the old serial number when he used MA. Ergo, the “solution” above.

[Gregg]

I suspect the 2007 version is not the Last Word.

[Xairbusdriver]

I find it rare that an old version of any software can read the files created by the newer versions. While the new ones can usually be used to read and then update the old files. At least with most databases and documents that are saved in some proprietary format. For word/text processors, that is usually the case. Often the new version stores/saves things in a slightly different way than before so it's doubtful that an old version will be able to read/understand a new one. Even works that way with the board software, upgrading it usually means modifying or throwing away the current "skins" and using brand new ones ( that are not usable in the older versioned boards ).

As for re-registering software, I would think a simple question about how to do it and what steps you've taken would be sufficient to get an answer, here or at the softwares support forums. Complaining about it or claiming that it is a hardware problem serves no useful purpose, IMHO. This board is for discussing/reporting solutions not about ranting about problems/hardware.