[DM-MUG] Word file format change

[John Kisner]

I've read a couple of items on the web this past week about the new  
Windows version of Word.

One mentioned there will be a new file format (.docx) that will not  
immediately have a Macintosh translator (it will, of course, be part  
of the Mac version of Word 2007 that will trail the Windows release  
by 6 months).  This doesn't seem like too big a deal, since there  
will be millions of Office users that won't upgrade anyway, so  
the .docx format won't be used for sharing anyway (at least not for a  
long time).

The other mentioned that the new version of Office for Mac will no  
longer support the macro language used in Office.  This could really  
hammer the Mac users who share files, because in the business world  
these macros are pretty important.  The opinion was offered that this  
will almost force the use of Windows on the Intel Macs, since all of  
a sudden that will be the only way to achieve 100% compatibility with  
other Office users.

These changes don't really affect me, but I'm always interested in  
the on-going tension between Mac and Microsoft.