[TheBattman]

So what's the deal? I have yet to find a real explanation of this very significant difference. The presentations, if they do not contain audio or video components work pretty seamlessly across platforms. About the only other issue I find is not platform related - but font related.

[mnehring]

bfltr

I think there is actually something with Quicktime being the default sounds handler but I can check tomorrow at work.

[flintsilver7]

There are some known issues with Powerpoint and attempting to use presentations across platforms like this. Some of it has to do with the original file types inserted. Macs use Quicktime by default while Windows machines don’t, so that could be a problem. In general, if you create the presentation on a Mac, you’re going to have problems on Windows, while the reverse is also true. With high probability any two machines are going to have a different library of audio and video codecs to work with.

[flintsilver7]

Also, there is a very good chance that elements of a presentation created in Powerpoint 2008 are not going to be compatible with Powerpoint 2007. Like you said, a simple text-only presentation should work fine, but as the presentations get more involved, the compatibility goes down.

[Jet Jaguar]

Ping.

[CodeToad]

Try installing QuickTime on your PC and see what happens.

[JRandomFreeper]

So why the big gap?

MS proprietary stuff, mainly. MS doesn't like to play AVIs. Part of it may have to do with RIAA copy protection.

MS is NOT open software.

/johnny

[Swordmaker]

Powerpoint 2008 (Mac) vs. Powerpoint 2007 (Vista) question from The Battman—PING!

Mac v Windows query Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[Glenn]

- so -

Every 2 bit geek on the planet has picked up this speaking tic. Start every paragraph with "So". Makes me nuts.

[hugorand]

You’re dealing with: 1) different hardware; 2) different operating systems and 3) different versions of the software. Those are 3 big variables regarding audio and video issues. MSFT tech support is your best bet.

[BradyLS]

We have Macs and PCs where we work that need to share files and presentations. We follow the KISS rule and, on the Mac side, will sometimes save the file in an earlier version of PowerPoint or Word to make sure the target PC user can open/read/present the file.

Fonts can also be a problem, so try to stick to OpenType and TrueType fonts. Especially the ones that come loaded with Office for either platform.

[antiRepublicrat]

You're missing a codec? Try the combined community codec pack for Windows.

Yes, the CCCP thing is sarcastic.

[krb]

with the Mac version generally being for more tolerant of media files (both audio and video)

To get media to work well with powerpoint on the PC, it is best to follow these steps:

• Use WMV as your video format if possible.
• Make sure the complete path name isn't too long (including subdirectories). In fact I like to put all my media files into a directory off of the root (i.e. C:\media) for just this reason