Microsoft Office 2007 introduced new Open XML-based file formats for Office applications. These new file formats reduce file size, improve security and reliability, and enhance integration with external sources. To allow Windows Mobile users to work with Office documents created in the Open XML formats, Microsoft has developed an upgrade for Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile applications. This upgrade to the Office Mobile applications allows viewing and editing of Word documents and Excel workbooks and viewing of PowerPoint slideshows created by using Microsoft Office 2007.

Other improvements include:
• Enhanced viewing experience for charts in Excel Mobile.
• Ability to view SmartArt in PowerPoint Mobile.
• Ability to view and extract files from compressed (.zip) folders.

If your Windows Mobile device has a prior version of Microsoft Office Mobile, then you can download the upgrade for free at the referenced URL. Otherwise, you'll have to purchase a full version of Microsoft Office Mobile. I have not seen any Windows Mobile PDAPhones that didn't come with Office Mobile by default, so this shouldn't be an issue for most people.

The Office Mobile application suite includes Microsoft Office Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint® Mobile for Windows Mobile 6 powered devices, helping users manage and review documents. Microsoft Office Mobile includes support for rich reviewing and minor editing capabilities as well as support for rights-managed documents.

The primary user scenario enabled by Office Mobile is viewing e-mail attachments, performing minor edits, sharing document versions, and opening documents from an SD card or a SharePoint server. Office Mobile provides a high-fidelity document viewing experience, with capability to edit as well as fast performance in loading the first page of the document.

I'd really like to see Microsoft put more effort into modernizing the Mobile Office application suite. There have been very little big changes to it over the years, probably because it doesn't directly generate any revenue and there is no direct competition for it. I believe that this is an area, however, that could be used to set these devices apart from the competition from other platforms, if Microsoft would look at it that way. I believe that the Google Android platform is the most probably factor to force a fresh Mobile Office look, if Android gets out of the gate and reaches critical mass.