PPT97: PowerPoint Opens Earlier Version Files as Read-Only (183658)

SUMMARY

If you open a presentation created in an earlier version of Microsoft PowerPoint in PowerPoint 97 for Windows, you actually get a read-only copy of that presentation. The same behavior occurs if you open a Macintosh version of a PowerPoint presentation in a Windows version (or vice-versa). PowerPoint versions 7.0 and earlier warn you that you are opening a read-only version. PowerPoint 97 does not.

MORE INFORMATION

When you open a Microsoft PowerPoint file for editing, you are actually working from a temporary copy of the original file. PowerPoint does not write over the original file until you save this temporary copy. In order to preserve the original file format of earlier versions, PowerPoint 4.0 and 7.0 open the earlier version files as read-only. This requires you to choose a new name for your file when you save it. This is particularly important if you are sharing files created in different version of PowerPoint with many people.

PowerPoint 97 handles this differently. When you open a file from an earlier version of PowerPoint, you are still working in a temporary copy of the file. The difference is that you are not prevented from saving that file in the newer format using the same original name. PowerPoint 97 provides you with the following prompt when you attempt to save the file.

The file <path and filename> is currently a PowerPoint 4.0 (or 7.0) Presentation. If you made changes to your PowerPoint presentation using new PowerPoint 97 features, the changes might not be saved to an earlier format. Do you want to overwrite it with PowerPoint 97 format?