PowerPoint Rulers Mac to PC

[catmo]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel Do rulers in a text box on a Mac hold when a presentation is opened on a PC? I have several slides with bullets that have hanging indents I set up using rulers. I'm using Office 2008 and will be opening the presentation on a PC with Windows 7 and Office 2007. My presentation is created with the .pptx extension.

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor:
Intel Do rulers in a text box on a Mac hold when a presentation is
opened on a PC? I have several slides with bullets that have hanging
indents I set up using rulers. I'm using Office 2008 and will be opening
the presentation on a PC with Windows 7 and Office 2007. My presentation
is created with the .pptx extension.

Hi,

It should be fine. The Mac and PC versions you described share the same
drawing engine.

-Jim

 

[CyberTaz]

As Jim replied there should not be any difference in how the slides display
but there are variables that can come into play... Font
compatibility/availability & video configuration being among them.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[catmo]

Thanks! It's my thesis presentation, so there are no audio/video files involved -- just text boxes and jpg images. I used Calibri since it's the default font for both platforms, hopefully that's okay. I had issues with Arial in a previous presentation, but several people have told me Calibri works. I was concerned because a friend opened my current presentation with Windows Vista and Office 2003 -- I converted it to .ppt -- and my rulers were gone.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Thanks! It's my thesis presentation, so there are no audio/video
files involved -- just text boxes and jpg images. I used Calibri
since it's the default font for both platforms, hopefully that's
okay. I had issues with Arial in a previous presentation, but
several people have told me Calibri works. I was concerned because a
friend opened my current presentation with Windows Vista and Office
2003 -- I converted it to .ppt -- and my rulers were gone.

There might be an issue then.

Whether or not the rulers are visible isn't important. That's simply a
user preference that won't affect the way text is displayed.

But here's the thing: PPT 2007/2008 allow you to set tab stops and
indents on a per-paragraph basis; in effect, each paragraph has its own
unique ruler. Earlier versions have one ruler (and therefore one set
of tabs/indents) *per text box*. All the text in a text box has the
same settings.

When converting from 2007/2008 to earlier versions, as I recall, all of
the paragraphs in a text box inherit the settings of the FIRST
paragraph.

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

There might be an issue then.

Whether or not the rulers are visible isn't important. That's simply a
user preference that won't affect the way text is displayed.

But here's the thing: PPT 2007/2008 allow you to set tab stops and
indents on a per-paragraph basis; in effect, each paragraph has its own
unique ruler. Earlier versions have one ruler (and therefore one set
of tabs/indents) *per text box*. All the text in a text box has the
same settings.

When converting from 2007/2008 to earlier versions, as I recall, all of
the paragraphs in a text box inherit the settings of the FIRST
paragraph.

And just to reiterate, with Calibri font and the combination of
PowerPoint 2007 and 2008 you should be fine. The following four product
offerings should be fine with each other: PowerPoint 2007, 2008, 2010,
and 2011.

-Jim

 

[CyberTaz]

<snip>

The following four product
offerings should be fine with each other: PowerPoint 2007, 2008, 2010,
and 2011.

<snip>

.... Except that there is, as yet, no 2011 product offering ;-)

[Just couldn't resist ]

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[catmo]

Thanks -- sounds like I should be okay since I'm not going to be using an older version of Office for Windows for my presentation. I only tried it on my friend's PC with Office 2003 to check the font situation, and that's when I started worrying. I'm going to try and find someone with Windows 7 and Office 2007 to test it before my presentation date just to make sure -- don't want any last-minute surprises!

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Thanks -- sounds like I should be okay since I'm not going to be
using an older version of Office for Windows for my presentation. I
only tried it on my friend's PC with Office 2003 to check the font
situation, and that's when I started worrying. I'm going to try and
find someone with Windows 7 and Office 2007 to test it before my
presentation date just to make sure -- don't want any last-minute
surprises!

Good plan. But as Jim's mentioned, you should be ok.

As long as you don't rely on finding Office 2011 to run it on. ;-)
2010's liable to be a bit thin on the ground until June too.

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

<snip>

The following four product
offerings should be fine with each other: PowerPoint 2007, 2008, 2010,
and 2011.

<snip>

... Except that there is, as yet, no 2011 product offering ;-)

[Just couldn't resist ]

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

True, but I'm willing to go out on a limb with this one given that MacBU
made a major change for 2008 to match PowerPoint for Windows, and that
PowerPoint 2010 just came out and PowerPoint 2011 will be right on its
heels. I see a pattern involving compatibility between Mac and Windows
versions. Just the same, I did qualify my statement with wishy-washy
"should" instead of the assertive "will."

I admit to not being able to foresee the future, but I think it's not
unreasonable to anticipate this particular compatibility. Sure,
Microsoft could surprise me with a new incompatibility, but I sure hope
not! It hasn't been their style for the most part.

-Jim