2000/2003 compatability question

[Kim]

My organization is considering upgrading from Office 2000 to 2003. I have
been told that 2003 is not backwards compatible, that a Word document created
in 2000 will not be able to be opened in Word 2003. I find it hard to
believe that this is, in fact, true. Can anyone verify this for me?

TIA
Kim

 

[Rick R]

My client uses word 2000 and I've never had a problem opening any of their
documents in word 2003.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The file format has not changed from Word 97 to Word 2003. Not only can you
open files of virtually all previous versions in Word 2003, but users of
Word 97 and above will be able to open your Word 2003 files, though they may
lose some of the formatting (some new features were introduced in each
subsequent version).

I have a vague recollection that there have been isolated reports of
difficulty opening documents from previous versions in Word 2003, but I
believe this problem has been corrected; see "Description of the Office 2003
critical update: November 4, 2003" at
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=828041