If you have an older machine with an older version of Microsoft Office, or if you're using Open Office or Microsoft Works, and lack the latest versions of PowerPoint installed on your machine, a user can still view and open PowerPoint presentations by utilizing PowerPoint Viewer 2010. PowerPoint Viewer is a free application which is downloadable from Microsoft.com.

An easy and free way to view PowerPoint slides

Users can view, print and open presentations using this app, but it is "read only" and not possible to edit. However, PowerPoint Viewer 2010 allows transitions, slides and videos to behave in an identical manner to the most recent iteration of PowerPoint. PowerPoint Viewer 2010 will work on Windows Operating systems as far back as Windows XP Service Pack 3. It also works on Vista's Service Packs number 1,2,3, Windows 7 and the more recent Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. Its memory requirements are relatively moderate, requiring a minimum of 256 MB of RAM, and 270 Megabytes of hard drive storage. For the display, it takes a resolution of 1024 x 788 to function at optimum levels. The hardware graphic acceleration needs a 9.0c DirectX graphics card, with an excess of 64 MB video memory. The user's system configuration is the determining factor for a user's graphics and product functionality. Users should note however, that some Microsoft PowerPoint features will not be watchable by this viewer, specifically presentations regarding Information Rights Management (IRM) and macro running and links to external sites or embedded and linked objects.

Installing the viewer

PowerPoint Viewer 2010 is extremely easy to download, one simply clicks the download button on the Microsoft page and saves the file to the hard disk. The setup program can be activated by double clicking on the PowerPointViewer.exe to start the program of setup. Once the download is installed, one must access the "Start" menu under "All Programs", and then open Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer. PowerPoint Viewer will only register with the .ppt, .pptm, .pot, .pptx, .ppsx, .pps, and .ppsm extensions if there is not already a version of PowerPoint installed on the computer. The program will launch if these file types are double clicked on a registered machine.

In a nutshell

If you have ever received an email attachment from a work or school colleague containing a PowerPoint presentation in a more recent format than your Microsoft Office package can support, then this PowerPoint Viewer is the ideal solution to your needs. It saves the need to spend on the latest version of Office simply to open attachments. If it's urgent that you wish to open the PowerPoint to edit it, this can be done on an open source version of PowerPoint, without loss of resolution or quality. Its reliability and user friendly nature make PowerPoint Viewer an ideal download.