Microsoft Office XML Compatibility

Microsoft Office applications from older suites are not capable of working with the XML file formats offered in Microsoft Office 2007. For versions 2000 and later Microsoft offers the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack to handle Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.

XML [Extensible Markup Language]files allow sharing of data between between different information system. For this reason the format has become standard on the Internet where it has been constantly expanding since it's inception in the early 1990's. The format migrated to the desktop with office suites such as OpenOffice, a free open source package originally developed by Sun Microsystems. Organizations worldwide, including foreign and domestic governments, have come require the use of open source applications and avoiding the proprietary formats promoted by Microsoft. As such Microsoft has been force to adopt to the requirements and promises to support open source document formats and Adobe PDF files in upcoming implementation of it's Office Suite due out in 2009.

When you go to the above link for your compatibility patch be sure to read the instructions carefully. You will want to get the latest updates for your Windows installation. According to Microsoft's "System Requirements" you will also want to have the latest service packs for your particular version of Office installed as well.