# What program can I use...?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-program-can-i-use/170420>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 22, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-program-can-i-use/170420 "2003-04-22T20:48:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gypsymoth3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-program-can-i-use/170420/1 "2003-04-22T20:48:18Z")

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to opne a PPT file? isn’t that power point? do i have it automatically on XP? can i use any other program instead?

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-program-can-i-use/170420/2 "2003-04-22T20:52:58Z")

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You can download a free Powerpoint viewer from [Microsoft](http://microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=D1649C22-B51F-4910-93FC-4CF2832D3342&displaylang=en).

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**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-program-can-i-use/170420/3 "2003-04-23T01:34:35Z")

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For reasons known only to Microsoft, the full version of Powerpoint only comes with Office XP Pro, so if you need to make any changes to the file, you’re out of luck. No other program, AFAIK, will open the sucker. The free viewer cited by **Q.E.D.** is your lifesaver if you just need to look at the presentation.