In Word 2007, Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007, there are new file formats. Why? There are a lot of reasons! For example, increased security for your files; reduced chance of file corruption; reduced file size; and new features.

If the technical details interest you, the new file formats are based on XML (Extensible Markup Language) and embrace the Office Open XML Formats.

A bit more about the new format in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

• For documents, workbooks, and presentations, the default file format now has an "x" on the end, representing the XML format. For example, in Word, a document is now saved by default with the extension .docx, rather than .doc.
• If you save a file as a template, the same applies: You get the template extension of old, with an "x" on the end; for example, .dotx in Word.
• If your file contains code or macros, you have to save it using the new macro-enabled file format. For a Word document, that translates into .docm; for a Word template, it's .dotm.

Note    There's a new file format in Access, which has some different characteristics. We'll talk about those later in the course.