Microsoft is facing criticism from a competitor and some customers for its decision to block some older file formats with Office 2003 Service Pack 3, which it released last September. The only non-Microsoft file format that was blocked by Service Pack 3 was CorelDraw .CDR files.
"CorelDraw users can rest assured that they can still use the CorelDraw Graphics Suite normally on a system where Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3 has been installed," Gerard Metrallier, Corel"s director of graphics product management, said in a statement released Jan. 3. "This update from Microsoft does not impact CorelDraw at all or the capability of opening .CDR files from within CorelDraw or from Windows Explorer," he said. The service pack also blocks some of Microsoft"s own file formats, according to a Knowledge Base article the company released that covers the issue.