The 2007 version of Microsoft’s Office Suite supports new file formats and new fonts that won’t work on older versions without a compatibility upgrade.

Users of the Office Suite can check out Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. Just download O2007Cnv.exe in the language of your choice and install. Your system will be updated to allow backwards compatibility with files saved from the newer versions and even if you don’t have MS Office, you will be pleased to note that this .exe will also automatically install Microsoft’s new Vista fonts including Calibri which is slated to replace Times New Roman.

I question the logic behind replacing the most ubiquitous serif font set of the past 10 years, Times New Roman, with a sans-serif font, Calibri. While sans-serif fonts are known to be easier to read on screen, it seems to me that most of the things people type in word processors are going to be printed anyway.

Having said that, I still like the new fonts.