With Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft released about 20 new file extensions.  These extensions include .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and more, and are specific to only the 2007 version of any MS Office product (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).  If your end user does not own MS 2007, they will not be able to open your file unless they have installed a converter on their computer.

If you create a document in MS Office 2007 that you intend to share, it is highly recommended that you save that document as a more universally read MS Office 97-2003 Document (*.doc) file.  To do this, click "Save As" and in the drop down menu for "Save As Type", choose the 97-2003 Document version.  Saving it as the older file type will ensure that you have a document your site visitors can view, without the hassles of installing a converter.  This is also referred to as "compatibility mode."

If you utilize the newer features of the MS Office 2007 (such as Smart Art, Themes, Bibliography, Relative Text Boxes, Placeholders, Pivot Tables, Dynamic Filters, Text Warping, 3D Rotation, etc.), the compatibility mode removes these features.  If your end user must see the end result of these features and/or use the document with any of these features, do not save your document in compatibility mode. 

Faithwebsites allows you to upload the most common MS Office 2007 extensions, but requests that you only upload a MS 2007 file extension if need be.  When end users to your site try to download a file that is not compatible with their computers, it can be an additional support burden for both you and our FWS support team.  However, we do recognize the growing need of being able to keep a MS Office 2007 document in-tact without the loss of the additional features, so those extensions are allowed.

For more information and a complete listing of features that are lost when you work in Compatibility Mode, visit this link here on the Microsoft TechNet site. 

Microsoft Office 2007 file converters for Word, Excel and Powerpoint can be downloaded at this link here.