Office 2003 SP3 Doesn't Play Nicely With Older AppsOffice 2003 SP3 Doesn't Play Nicely With Older Apps

Three months after Microsoft released its newest service pack for Office 2003, the software giant made clear the fact that SP3 doesn't support a number of files types businesses might still need to access.The news gets worse. Although a workaround exists to restore access to out-of-reach programs, including Word 6.0 and Word 97 for Windows, and older versions of Excel, PowerPoint and Lotus Notes, improper implementations could turn your computer into a useless heap of hardware.

"The older file formats that are now blocked are in decreasing day-to-day use, but the blocking of them will make retrieval of archived material more difficult," states an article on News.com.

This is clearly a huge issue for SMBs--many of which are still using the 2003 version of Microsoft's software suite--not to mention the companies they do business with. "Office 2003 just peaked in its installed base last year, probably at around 60 percent of business users," says Michael Silver, research vice president at Gartner.

For more ways SP3 affects the way Office 2003 works, click here.CNET News.com