Information Technology Services (ITS) is aware of the recent release of Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 and the new functionality that each provides.
As with all new releases of Microsoft Office, ITS will not upgrade its public computers with the new suite right away. It is common practice for ITS to wait a minimum of 6 - 12 months after the commercial release of a new Office suite before upgrading the School’s computing resources. This enables us to evaluate the products on their own and within our existing environment. In addition, this gives the public a chance to generate feedback on the products and gives Microsoft a chance to respond with bug fixes, service packs, etc.
Students who are using Office 2007 are encouraged to save documents in Office 2003 (or earlier) format so that files can be opened by faculty without difficulty. This can easily be done within Office 2007 itself (choose "Save As" and use the "Save As Type" drop-down list to select an earlier version of Office (72k PDF)).
The Office Compatibility Pack has been installed on all SMG public machines including the computer labs and the classroom podium computers. This pack enables the new Office 2007 file formats to be opened in earlier versions of Office.
Plans for the eventual transition to Vista and Office 2007 on SMG’s public computers will be posted on this website. Please check back for updates.
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