PP2002 and compatibility w/ older versions

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newbie356

Hi,

our Customer wants to include a PP2002 .pps on a CD we are building.
They used .wav files on every slide AND fade animations of bullets.
We have fine tuned the timings on our local machine. It looks Great!
But, try playing it on another machine and it falls apart.

We have tried Tools-Options-Disable Newer animations. Nope! All that
did was turn all of the animations into blocks of text! Plus, we had
go back to each slide and change the animation parameters to keep the
audio and animation in parallel, as opposed to serial. That sucked!

We have PPViewer2003 and are prepared to offer that on the CD, but,
its' installation requires "User intervention" in the form of
acceptance agreements (which these Seniors might be hard pressed to
understand). That really is unacceptable.

Do we have to go back to our most basic version of PP and recreate
this entire slideshow for compatibity with possibly a widespread
collection of PowerPoint users? That seems a waste of time and
technology!

As long as this appears to be a RAVE, is there a way to publish a .pps
as a .wmv?

Thanks!
 
This probably the most popular problem associated with PowerPoint XP (2002,
2003). Older versions of PowerPoint (97 and 2000) and PowerPoint Viewer
(97) will not recognize the advanced animation functions of PowerPoint XP.
If "disableing newer animations" scrwed up your animations you have stuff in
there that they won't be able to view on older versions. My suggestion is
either
a) writing a really good "Read Me" file on loading viewer (I've done this
myself),
b) disabling the advanced functions before you re-create the animations (or
do it on an older version of PowerPoint)
or
c) convert the files to HTML (the animations will run on most browsers)

I'd go with teaching the users to use PowerPoint viewer, which I believe you
can even run off of the CD though I'm not sure.

Good luck

Justin
 
Thanks!

We have decided to go back and recreate the presentation using the
older methods. These users won't understand a read me file. We just
have to make sure that they understand the message of the
presentation.

I am kicking myself that we spend all of these $$ on new platforms
only to not be able to use them except in "special" circumstances.

Peter
 
I'm going to ask a picky question: Are you sure the Seniors will have
problems with the EULA for the Viewer? Have you asked any of them? Before
you go re-do everything, I would think it would be worth doing a quick
usability test with some of your target audience.

<begin slight rant>
Yes, some people are thrown by a EULA. However, if they have been using a
computer for any amount of time, they know that such things exist. They may
not have as many problems as you think.

Another suggestion: Why not put the warning on the CD cover, sleeve or case.
A simple note "The viewer may ask you to agree to an end user agreement. It
is only asking if it is okay with you to run the software. For more
information see ....." (and offer them a link. This is fairly common
practice and should not be a problem for most users.

As one who trains Senior Citizens from time to time, I think that you are
underestimating the amount of computer understanding they have. I don't know
your exact audience. I do, however know a wide variety of new users. Most
will accept an extra click if it is explained to them. (And by the way, most
people do also know what a ReadMe is.)
<end rant>
Just my two cents....
--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft PPT MVP
If this helped you, please take the time to rate the value of this post:
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Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com
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Kathy is a trainer, writer, Girl Scout, and whatever else there is time for
I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived
 
As a senior citizen, I take strong exception with your assumption. Being a
senior citizen doesn't mean that your brain is dead. Anybody who has turned
on a computer and knows how to load a CD can read. Sheesh!!
 
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