One of the challenges of being an early adopter of technology is that most people, companies, organizations have not crossed over the chasm to upgrading to a new version. Even a year after the release of Office 2007, I still am being asked to save Word, Excel, and PowerPoints in the non-(docx, xlsx, pptx) formats. It is very clear to me that many companies have not or will not be upgrading to this release.
To remain polite and cooperative I am saving the document in the format my customers, friends, and co-workers request. In addition now, I am going to include the following information:
I'm pleased to provide you the information you have requested in the format you use. Since more companies are adopting Office 2007 this will continue to be an issue for many sharing information. I have found a site within Microsoft that allows previous versions of Office products (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) to be able to open, edit, and save files in the new format. You can download this here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en -- included if e-mail format is text only). I hope this will assist you with others. I will continue to send items to you in the format you prefer.
I hope this helps you!
Footnote: "early adopter' and "chasm" are terms used in a 95% wonderful book entitled "Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey A. Moore.