It appears that the removal of xlsx format from the options for new exports was a mistake. Existing exports saved to RE can still produce .xlsx files, and exporting directly from a query still has the xlsx option.
Xls was replaced 15 years ago and is well and truly obsolete. Xlsx files are more secure, since they cannot contain macros (only xlsm can), and also have better compression so they use less disk space. It is absurd for Blackbaud to think that it is acceptable to remove the xlsx option for new exports, especially when it is clearly still possible for RE to produce xlsx files, regardless of the removal of Office integrations on the 28th Feb.
Blackbaud support have told me that “we will be raising this with our hosting team to see if they can re-introduce the xlxs function that has been removed. To back this up we would be looking to understand the impact that the removal of the xlsx function has on your organisation so we can make a decision to raise the issue as high priority.”
I would urge anyone else concerned by the recent change to please contact Blackbaud support and insist that the change be reverted as a priority.
