Office Open XML - Application Support

Application Support

Some older versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office are able to read and write docx files after installation of the free compatibility pack provided by Microsoft, but some items such as equations are converted into images that cannot be edited.

Starting with Microsoft Office 2007, the Office Open XML file formats have become the default file format of Microsoft Office. However, due to the changes introduced in the Office Open XML standard, Office 2007 is not entirely in compliance with ISO/IEC 29500:2008. Microsoft Office 2010 includes support for the ISO/IEC 29500:2008 compliant version of Office Open XML, but it can only save documents conforming to the transitional schemas of the specification, not the strict schemas. Note that the intent of the ISO/IEC is to allow the removal of the transitional variant from the ISO/IEC 29500 standard.

The ability to read and write Office Open XML format is however not limited to Microsoft Office; other office products are also able to read and write this format. SoftMaker Office 2010 is able to read and write .DOCX and .XLSX files in its word processor and spreadsheet applications. LibreOffice supports reading and writing Office Open XML files. OpenOffice.org from version 3.0 has been able to import Office Open XML files. Version 3.2 improves this feature with read/write support even for password-protected Office Open XML files. KOffice version 2.2 and later is able to import Office Open XML files. Other office products that offer import support for the Office Open XML formats include TextEdit (included with Mac OS X), iWork, IBM Lotus Notes, Abiword, WordPerfect, Kingsoft Office and Google Docs.