Office 2003 SP3 Update

[hlewton]

I am a bit confused. I have Office 2003 SP3 and today under Microsoft Updates a critical update was listed. It is called “Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack Service Pack 3 (SP3)”. I have read the details that I am pasting below and still am not sure if I need this update for my Office 2003 SP3 since it is already SP3. Can anyone clear up my confusion and advise if I should install it? Near the end of MS details it looks like it may be for Office 2007 which I don’t have because it calls the file “Download the Office Compatibility Pack 2007 SP3 package now.”

Details:

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack Service Pack 3 (SP3) provides the latest updates to Office Compatibility Pack. These updates include two main categories of fixes:
• Previously unreleased fixes that were made specifically for this service pack. In addition to general product fixes, this includes improvements in stability, performance, and security.
• All the public updates, security updates, cumulative updates, and hotfixes that were released through August 2011.
Because Office service packs are cumulative, you do not have to install Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 before you install Service Pack 3. Service Pack 3 includes all fixes which were included in Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2.

How to obtain and install the service packs

Method 1: Microsoft Update (recommended)

To download the service pack from Microsoft Update, visit the following Microsoft website:

Microsoft Update

Enrolling in Microsoft Update is the recommended way to update products to SP3. Microsoft Update will detect which products that you have installed, and then apply all updates to the products.

Method 2: Download the SP3 package from Microsoft Download Center

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:


Download the Office Compatibility Pack 2007 SP3 package now.


For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
119591 How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services
Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Known issues and behavior changes
2591067 Known issues that you may experience when you install the 2007 Office suite SP3 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP3

[DaveA]

This allows you as a 2003 user to open 2007 and 2010 files.
Yes, you have the Compatibility installed so it wants to be updated.

So, YES, install it.

[John Gray]

Microsoft has been very confused about what to call this package, and what levels of Office it refers to.

If you look at the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats webpage you will see that the filename is FileFormatConverters.exe, and previous levels of this page talked about Office 2007 files before the coming of Office 2010.

Basically, if you have Office 2003, the package allows you to deal with the infuriating .DOCX, .XLSX and .PPTX files that people with Office 2007 and Office 2010 blithely send you...

[ChrisGreaves]

Basically, if you have Office 2003, the package allows you to deal with the infuriating .DOCX, .XLSX and .PPTX files that people with Office 2007 and Office 2010 blithely send you...

So, if I understand this, basically, four years after the fact, MSoft has tumbled to the fact that people with older systems need to communicate with people on newer systems?

[HansV]

No, the first version compatibility pack was released together with Office 2007, in December of 2006. Microsoft frequently issues updates.

[hlewton]

Thank you. I will install it now. Glad I asked though.