Installation
Office 2007 for the PC and Office 2008 for the Mac will no longer be available for installation on personally owned computers. This is a result of our latest Microsoft Campus Agreement.
One will be required to purchase Office 2010 for the PC or Office 2011 from the Mac. The fee is $19.95. One benefit is that you may use that purchase to install on up to 5 computers.
Those wishing to install Office 2010 for the PC / Office 2011 for the Mac should be directed to this page of the Knox website: http://www.knox.edu/offices-and-services/information-technology-services/computing-at-knox/network-applications.html. The short blurb is towards the bottom of the page.
You may also directly to the Varsity Buys website: http://www.varsitybuys.com/index.php?store=students&vendor=183&vschool=142
File Types
Office 2007 introduced new file types for projects produced by the software called Office Open XML. They included the docx (for Microsoft Word), xlsx (Microsoft Excel), and pptx (For Microsoft Power-Point). These new files types use a ZIP container to slightly compress the file, while also allowing for some of the newer formatting options and displays introduced in Office 2007.
All Office software after 2007 can read these file types out of the box. Versions of office prior to this (Notably Office 2003 and 2004) can download compatibility packs which will allow them to open and edit these files, however, new features and formatting options introduced in Office versions after 2007 may be lost.
Alternatively, Versions of Office after 2007 can also choose to save in the old file type extension related to the program. For example, Word 2007 can still save as a .doc file. Users can decide what file type to use from the save-as menu.
It should be noted at docx, xlsx, pptx, etc are the defaults for Office 2007 and later. For users without the compatibility pack (or for users who are using a different Word Processor such as Pages or Open Office), docx files can be opened in a web browser. xlxs files may get corrupted or generally not appear as intended when translating in html. It is recommended, thus, that users of Office 2003/2004 install the compatibility pack.
Other Versions
Office 2003 and 2004
Office 2003 (For Windows) and Office 2004 (For Mac). There aren't very many users who still have this version. If they run into serious problems, though, you can recommend upgrading to 2007/2008. It's a good idea to know what version you're dealing with.
Office 2010 and 2011
Office 2010 (For Windows) and Office 2011 (For Mac). This is the most recent version of Microsoft Office released. Most of the interface is the same as 2007/2008 and most common problems can be resolved the same way as they were in Office 2007/2008 and even Office 2003/2004. It's a good idea to know what version you're dealing with.