Teaching & Learning with Technology

I have received a few questions about PC and Mac compatibility that I thought I would share.

If teachers or students are using Macs at home, there is no problem with bringing files like presentations and papers back and forth between home and school as long as a few things are understood.

The problem is not with the actual computer type (mac or pc), the problem is with the version and type of software that the student/teacher is using to create the presentation/project on their home Mac or home PC. Keep in mind that Office 2007 (Word 2007, Excel 2007, Powerpoint 2007) is installed on all Cranbrook computers.

1. If the student/teacher uses Office 2008 on their home Mac computer, then there is no issue…the files transfer to and from Office 2007 on the PC’s at Cranbrook seamlessly.

2. If a student/teacher uses an earlier version of Office on their home Mac (like Office 2004) or home PC (like Office 2000, XP, or 2003), then they will need to install the following compatability pack on their home Mac/PC in order to open, edit, and save Office 2007 files.

Compatability pack for home PC’s:

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for 2007 Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats  http://office.microsoft.com/search/redir.aspx?AssetID=XT101080361033&CTT=5&Origin=RP100664491033

Compatability pack for home Mac’s:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=EDB6CD8F-832C-4123-8982-AC0C601EA0A7&displaylang=en

3. Also, remember that font styles, colors and themes may not be the same in various versions of Office so when you transfer files from one version to another, it may not look exactly the same.

4. If a student/teacher does not have any version of Office installed on their home Mac or PC, then there is no guarantee that files will be compatible or transferable. (For example, Apple iWork files like Keynote, Pages, and Numbers do not play nice with Office files like Powerpoint, Word, and Excel).