[ninthchamber]

hi i use the open office at home when i downloaded it my understanding was that i would be able to use microsoft office files with it?? i can open them so that works.. now, my son went to school and cannot open a file he saved on a computer with microsoft office.. is it not compatible both ways? please help

[LiveBrianD]

ninthchamber, on 03 October 2010 - 04:52 PM, said:

hi i use the open office at home when i downloaded it my understanding was that i would be able to use microsoft office files with it?? i can open them so that works.. now, my son went to school and cannot open a file he saved on a computer with microsoft office.. is it not compatible both ways? please help

I think Openoffice is now compatible with office 2007/2010 formats as well as the older 97-2003 ones. HOWEVER, you must note that open office saves in it's own formats by default, like .odt for word rather than .doc or .docx. Only office 2010 now includes support for such. Make sure when you save the file you save it as a Microsoft office file, NOT the default openoffice one, and that default can be changed if you want.

[ninthchamber]

wow thanks so much!!

can u explain to me how to change the default??
your help is appreciated..

[Car54]

Ninth, see if this thread sounds like what you're looking for, especially post #5.

[ninthchamber]

thanks again!!