The Office 2010 programs use file formats based on a programming language called extended markup language, or more commonly, XML. These file formats, called the Microsoft Office Open XML Formats, were introduced with Microsoft Office 2007.
The Office Open XML formats provide the following benefits:
● File size is smaller because files are compressed when saved, decreasing the amount of disk space needed to store the file, and the amount of bandwidth needed to send files in e-mail, over a network, or across the Internet.
● Recovering at least some of the content of damaged files is possible because XML files can be opened in a text program such as Notepad.
● Security is greater because the standard file formats cannot contain macros, and personal data can be detected and removed from the file. (Word 2010 and Word 2007 provide a different file format—.docm—for documents that contain macros.)
Each Office 2010 program offers a selection of file formats intended to provide specific benefits. The file formats and file name extensions for Word 2010 documents include the following:
· Word Document (.docx)
· Word Macro-Enabled Document (.docm)
· Word Template (.dotx)
· Word Macro-Enabled Template (.dotm)
· Word XML Document (.xml)
The file formats and file name extensions for Excel 2010 documents include the following:
· Excel Workbook (.xlsx)
· Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (.xlsm)
· Excel Binary Workbook (.xlsb)
· Excel Template (.xltx)
· Excel Macro-Enabled Template (.xltm)
· Excel Add-In (.xlam)
The file formats and file name extensions for PowerPoint 2010 documents include the following:
· PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx)
· PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Presentation (.pptm)
· PowerPoint Template (.potx)
· PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Template (.potm)
· PowerPoint Show (.ppsx)
· PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Show (.ppsm)
· PowerPoint Add-In (.ppam)
· PowerPoint XML Presentation (.xml)
· PowerPoint Picture Presentation (.pptx)
Other non–program specific file types, such as text files, Web pages, PDF files, and XPS files, are available from the Save As dialog box of each program.
You can open a file created with Office 2003, Office XP, Office 2000, or Office 97 in an Office 2010 program, but new features will not be available. The file name appears in the title bar with [Compatibility Mode] to its right. You can work in Compatibility mode, or you can convert the document to the current file format by displaying the Info page of the Backstage view and clicking the Convert button in the Compatibility Mode section. You can also click Save As in the Backstage view to save a copy of the file in the current format.
If you work with people who are using Office 2003, Office XP, Office 2000, or Office 97, you can save your documents in a format that they will be able to open and use by choosing the corresponding 97-2003 file format in the Save As Type list, or they can download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats from the Microsoft Download Center (located at download.microsoft.com) so that they can open current Office files in their version of Office.
