If you are a Microsoft Office user and need to send a file to someone who doesn’t have MS Office (or another compatible program), then obviously they couldn’t read the file. This of course can be a real drag, but the quick solution to this problem is just have them install the appropriate file viewer.

For the most part, people will have MS Office or Open Office installed on their computer, so really the only viewers of interest may be the Visio and Access variety. Additionally on this page you can find file converters which allow you to open, edit and save previous and future versions of Office documents inside your installed copy.