Recently I received this question from a reader:
"I bought a new computer with PowerPoint 2007 installed. Since most of my friends are using 2003 or an earlier version, some of them encountered difficulty playing the 2007 slide shows I had created.
My question is can I also install my PowerPoint 2003 version on the same computer?
Yes, you can install both PowerPoint 2003 and 2007 on the same computer. Most likely you will have the complete Microsoft Office package to install, rather than the individual program(s). If you use the default install of Microsoft Office, the programs will install themselves to the following folders:
- Office 2003 - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11
- Office 2007 - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12
However, I must state that when I installed these two versions on my own computer, I installed Office 2003 first and then followed up with Office 2007. This is the folder structure that was created on my computer. In the past, you had to indicate a specific folder to install a different version or the new install would overwrite the earlier install.
Shortcuts to the individual programs that are within the Microsoft Office umbrella will be located in the Start Menu under the program heading Microsoft Office and the icons for each version of the individual programs will be slightly different. For example, both PowerPoint 2003 and 2007 will have slightly different icons, but will both be present in the list.
