Originally Posted by Matt Clementson

It's a good wish but I'm not sure if it's even technically possible because of the way the .max format works. Unlike .3ds for example the .max file is not a series of vertex/face arrays but a snapshot of the current state of all the plugins used in the scene. Plugin recompiles are designed to read older data but obviously there's no way you can programme an earlier version to read future data unless you happen to know what that future plugin is going to be like (in which case - go play the lottery!).