And just jumping in to clarify still further...
the password functionality in the windows version of Office Apps is part
of their DRM (Digital Rights Management). DRM is not available on the
mac platform at all, and is unlikely to ever become available since it
relies on some pretty deeply buried proprietary code in the operating
system.

Signature
Barry Wainwright
Microsoft MVP
> And just jumping in to clarify still further...
>
> the password functionality in the windows version of Office Apps is part
> of their DRM (Digital Rights Management).
And jumping in to stir the mud some more ...
From PPT 2002 onward, including 2007, Win/PowerPoint has been able to use simple
password protection of two types. Neither is compatible with Mac/PPT or with
earlier versions of Win/PPT.
DRM is a later (Office 2007) development that gives the file owner more granular
control over what others are allowed to do with the file and when they're allowed
to do it, but the DRM features require access to a special server on the internet
or corporate network. IOW, it's of no use to most PC users, so Mac users are in
good company on this one ;-)
Net: it doesn't matter whether DRM or simple password protection is applied.
If you have a Mac and a protected file, your options are:
1- Get the author to send you an unprotected file, or
2- See Option 1 above
> DRM is not available on the
> mac platform at all, and is unlikely to ever become available since it
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
> > >>
> > >> -Jim
================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Paul Derby - 28 Jul 2008 14:42 GMT
You can always encrypt PowerPoint, or anything else for that matter, using an
X.509 certificate. Thawte offers free certificates for individuals and many
organizations provide their email users x.509 solutions from vendors such as
Entrust, Tumbleweed, Verisign, etc.
After an exchange of signed emails, any attachment can be sent securely with
encryption, including PowerPoint.
Apple's mail program and Microsoft's Outlook support x.509 certificates with
extremely easy to use buttons the end use just has to click to sign and
encrypt email after the x.509 certificate is installed and certificates are
present in the address book (Mac) or contacts (windows).
Lawrence - 28 Jul 2008 15:08 GMT
And if the purpose is to ensure that the file is not edited by anyone and
then redistributed, save it as a pdf and distribute it in that format. This
capability is built-in on the Mac and there are some excellent free
open-source pdf printers for the PC.
Lawrence
Steve Rindsberg - 28 Jul 2008 16:18 GMT
> You can always encrypt PowerPoint, or anything else for that matter, using an
> X.509 certificate. Thawte offers free certificates for individuals and many
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> encrypt email after the x.509 certificate is installed and certificates are
> present in the address book (Mac) or contacts (windows).
Will that prevent the recipient from editing the PPT though?
That was the original request.
================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Paul Derby - 28 Jul 2008 16:32 GMT
I thought the original request was to open a password protected file.
If the user wishes to protect the contents from editing, converting the
PowerPoint presentation to an Adobe PDF file format work well for this
purpose with the added benefit of being readable on all platforms across
multiple operating systems and multiple generations of acrobat. Many mobile
devices allow the file to be viewed, too.
One would think that Microsoft would at least provide a viewer for
PowerPoint DRM protected files that works on non-Windows operating systems.
> > You can always encrypt PowerPoint, or anything else for that matter, using an
> > X.509 certificate. Thawte offers free certificates for individuals and many
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> PPTools: www.pptools.com
> ================================================
Steve Rindsberg - 28 Jul 2008 19:33 GMT
> I thought the original request was to open a password protected file.
On Mac, yes. It was, but later amended to:
"Is it possible to add a password against editing in the version office 2008
for Mac so that a file is passwordprotected for the mac users ?"
In any case, no external process (certificate/encryption/etc) would allow Mac PPT to
open a password protected file created on a Windows version of PowerPoint.
> If the user wishes to protect the contents from editing, converting the
> PowerPoint presentation to an Adobe PDF file format work well for this
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> > PPTools: www.pptools.com
> > ================================================
================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================