Office 2007 locking files opened Read Only on network shares

We seem to have narrowed down the scenario in which this occurs but we don't
have a solution for it -- it seems to be a bug in Office '07. If the behavior
is by design I can't really grasp the rationale. The problem is this:

For a password-protected document, you are given the option of entering a
password to open the file with write permissions or opening a Read Only copy
of the file. In Office '03, opening a Read Only copy of a password-protected
document stored on a network share would NOT result in a lock being placed on
the file. Another user could still open that file with write permission and
edit it although others were viewing it in Read Only mode.

In Office '07, when opening a password-protected document stored on network
share as Read Only, a lock IS being placed on the file. When another user
attempts to open the file, perhaps with the intention of writing to it, they
are not presented with a password / Read Only prompt -- they get the "%file%
is locked for editing by 'another user'", and the only option is to open
another Read Only copy (or save a local copy/wait for the user to unlock the
file).

A lock does not appear to be placed on password-protected documents stored
on the local disk and opened as Read Only. I tested by placing a file in a
shared directory local to one machine, opening the file as Read Only with
Office '07, and then on a separate machine opening the same file via the
share. I received a password prompt (as I would expect) rather than a "locked
for editing" message.

As I said -- we do not have this issue with Office '03, only with Office
'07. Has anyone else seen this problem?

[Stefan2007]

Hi Leif,

we experience a similiar issue with Word 2007:

Folder on Win2K2 Server,
User A has read-only access,
User B has write-access to the folder

When User A with read-only access has open a file in the folder and User B tries to open the file also, User B will get:

"%file% is locked for editing by 'another user'"

Since User A has open the file only read-only, this message is wrong. This did NOT occur with Word 2000!

Did you get any solution or verification for your problem in the meantime?

[Stefan2007]

Update:
The issue I experienced only occurs when User A has Word 2000. So the previous post should correct read:

Folder on Win2K3 Server,
User A (Word 2000) has read-only access,
User B (Word 2007) has write-access to the folder

When User A (Word 2000) with read-only access has open a file in the folder and User B (Word 2007) tries to open the file also, he will get the following message:

"%file% is locked for editing by 'another user'"

Since User A (Word 2000) has open the file only read-only, this message is wrong.

The wrong message is NOT shown when both users have Word 2000 or if both users have Word 2007

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