Brief Hands-On Report--Microsoft released Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.1.1 (Beta) Microsoft

Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.1.1 (Beta) is available for download via Microsoft AutoUpdate if you have the previous version installed. With the Office Open XML Converter, you can convert Office Open XML files to a format that is compatible with Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac and Microsoft Office v. X for Mac. You can choose to convert and open one file, or convert a large number of files.

According to Microsoft,

Important This update fixes an issue with beta expiration functionality. The issue causes the converter application to become unusable well ahead of its intended expiration date. This update is highly recommended for all users of the Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.1 (Beta).

This version of the Office Open XML Converter can convert the following Office Open XML file formats:

Word Document (*.docx)
Word Macro-Enabled Document (*.docm)
These files are converted to Rich Text Format (RTF), which can be opened in Microsoft Word 2004 and Microsoft Word X.

The converter is still a Beta release so it might be unable to convert all the data in Office Open XML files. After you convert a file, you should review the file carefully to make sure that it contains all of the information that you expect.

The following issues are known to exist in this Beta release:

Macros and Visual Basic content are not included in the converted file.
Charts and SmartArt graphics are converted to pictures.
The following issues might occur in this Beta release:

Graphics and other objects in the document might appear with a different size.
Color fills and shading in tables might not be preserved.
Conversion might not succeed if the document contains a bibliography or citations.
Conversion might not succeed if the document contains WordArt.
Document layout and formatting might not be preserved.
Some Unicode characters might not be preserved.
Conversion might not succeed if the document contains very large pictures.
Conversion might not succeed if you use an SMB network volume as the preferred destination for converted files.
Picture bullets might not be preserved.
Fonts might be substituted.
This Beta release expires on August 15, 2007.

You must use Mac OS X 10.4.8 (Tiger) or a later version of Mac OS X, Office 2004 11.3.4 or later, or Office v. X 10.1.9 or later to open converted documents.

We downloaded and successfully installed Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.1.1 (Beta) on our MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo--LED. It converted our few sample .docx files just fine. [Bill Fox]