The IT Nerd

If you’re a Mac user and you’re running Office 2008 for Mac, Do not update to service pack 2. That’s not just me saying it, it’s Microsoft saying it:

This is a known issue with Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 2 (12.2.0) that prevents some Open XML Format files from opening. To address this issue, we will release an update in August.

In case you’re wondering. Office 2007 for Windows files are saved in Open XML format. So that means that Mac who use Office and need to open files from a PC that are saved in Office 2007 format need to do one of the following according to Microsoft (among others mentioned in their document):

• Remove Office manually, reinstall Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac from the original installation media, and then upgrade to Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.9 Update. Do not upgrade to Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 2 (12.2.0) from Microsoft AutoUpdate.
• Convert your document to .doc, .xls, or .ppt.

If you want another option from me, you can try OpenOffice. It will open Office 2007 files and it’s free.

The irony here is just amazing. A Microsoft application that can’t read files from another Microsoft application due to an update from Microsoft. Incredible. I’m guessing that someone in the Microsoft QA labs is about to be shown the door as this is one hell of a screw up.

This entry was posted on July 30, 2009 at 1:09 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Microsoft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.