How to Read MS Vista .doc files with Office 2004 Mac

[Mr. Strat]

How are you that you have trouble with australians? How you can judge people
just according to their nationality, you do not know them. Sounds like
Hittler who think about "pure" nationality.

I subscribe to some other groups where the Aussies are a pain in the
ass.

 

[Elliott Roper]

You're actually entertaining the theory that the people who use Google
Groups to post questions here *don't* know how to search Google?

And why not? There is a fair bit Google advanced group search that may
not be immediately obvious to the occasional poster.

I won't go into that here, because I know you can search this group on
Google to see where and when that has already been discussed, and read
the more or less practical advice offered, (heh) including by me!

A good teacher can often turn an inept, rude and repetitive question
into a a useful lesson for the whole class.

If you would improve on what is already there, I for one will be
sincerely grateful. It won't be the first time I have offered crap
solutions to the wrong problem. I'm a fairly regular poster here. My
payback is that I learn more than I teach.

 

[CyberTaz]

Sorry, JR, but your analogy doesn't hold up - the OP wasn't part of a group
where the question was asked & answered for them as a group. If anything
it's more like he wasn't there when the answer was given - perhaps for a
very legitimate reason - but rather than chasing after each of the other
students to find out what/if they knew & taking their replies for granted,
this user went directly to the teacher for clarification. A perfectly
appropriate resource

Yes, I get exasperated when repeatedly seeing the same "Where's the print
button" type of question, but I don't take it out on the asker and this is
in a more complex vein. Further, Strat said nothing about searching *this*
group & the general Google results are overwhelmingly PC-oriented.
Conversion of .docx file for Mac users is *way* down on the hit list.
Regardless of experience level, however, he has a right to ask a question
without a derisive & insulting attack by Strat... or anyone else. As far as
your question about chastising the teacher - You bet your skull & crossbones
I would... it's a teacher's obligation & responsibility to TEACH, not to
humiliate, berate & belittle.

 

[CyberTaz]

At the same time, it's

important to recognize the same principles are what dove him to make
those remarks.

....But if public forums are such a source of agitation & aggravation perhaps
one should refrain from going there. Swinging an axe in a crowd simply
because "people piss you off" is not considered appropriate behavior by any
standards I've witnessed in a civilized society.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

It won't be the first time I have offered crap
solutions to the wrong problem. I'm a fairly regular poster here. My
payback is that I learn more than I teach.

Sometimes I offer wild guesses just because I figure it increases the
chances someone will come along and correct me.

 

[doughlaundry]

I subscribe to some other groups where the Aussies are a pain in the
ass.

Well, I guess someone has to keep proving this theory:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19

Warning: This harmless -but very apt- cartoon contains strong
language!

 

[Mr. Strat]

Well, I guess someone has to keep proving this theory:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19

Now, that's funny!

 

[Dave Fritzinger]

Hi Arkay:

(Sorry for the delay, we just had to chase away one of the noisy school
children...)

You need to put the XML converter back in Without it, you will not be
able to read that file.

The XML Converter will work either stand-alone, or as a file converter in
the office applications.

HOWEVER: It cannot operate on a file that is still in your email. You MUST
save it to the hard disk first. (It's never safe to open a file from the
email, because your antivirus has not had a chance to have a look at it
yet... But in this case, it's not going to work, either!)

Now: Be careful when you save it that file that it saves with the file
extension ".docx". Some mail applications will try to save it as a ".zip"
file (because it *is* in Zip format internally). If yours is one, correct
the extension, it MUST be .docx

Open Word, then use File>Open from the Word File menu to open the .docx. It
should open straight up.

The file you have is in the new Microsoft Word format. You are quite right,
Office 2008 will have no trouble with it The Office XML Converter you
have is a piece of Office 2008. It has been released early, to enable
earlier versions of Mac Office to read the new files.

Hope this helps

I downloaded and installed the Office Open XML Converter.app but I am
not sure how it should be used. I have a new email from a Vista user
in Entourage and when I click on the attachment Entourage or OSX 10.5.1
wants to open the Vista document with "WordPad MFC Application.app"
whatever that is?

I then opened Office Open XML Converter.app and dropped the Vista
document and it said the document was already converted. At this point I
gave up and uninstalled Office Open XML Converter.app.

If Vista users want the rest of us to use their documents, they are
going to have to learn to send them in some standard format or they go
direct to trash.

Maybe this issues will be solved with Office 2008

On a separate note, if you have Pages installed, it will open .docx
files pretty well. You can then save it as a .doc file, or keep it in
Pages.

 

[Elliott Roper]

On a separate note, if you have Pages installed, it will open .docx
files pretty well. You can then save it as a .doc file, or keep it in
Pages.

Yep. They are really stirring the pot aren't they?
Microsoft invents undocumented xml magic to store Word files.
Apple decodes it and does a better job of reading .docx and saving it
to .doc than Microsoft's lame beta plugin for Office.
I *love* it.

PS. I'm a Microsoft MVP. I'm working on getting sacked.

 

[aRKay]

Dave,

Thanks for the note. The document sent to me was generated on a PC
using MS Word for Vista based PC's. It was generated by my brother
and attached to a email note with a .doc sufix. Since it was NOT a
..docx formatted document that explains why the XML Converter came back
with a note that the file was already converted.

My Office 2004 Mac Word could not open the .doc document. I finally
forced the issue by changing the Open With option to the Mac Word. It
then opened the document but some of the formatting was broken. At
least I could finally open the document.

I was hoping the PC version of Word had a Save As option that could be
read by the 2004 Mac Word. i have not seen the PC program and my
brother does not understand why my Word cannot read documents created by
his new Vista PC running MS Word.


aRKay

 

[Elliott Roper]

Dave,

Thanks for the note. The document sent to me was generated on a PC
using MS Word for Vista based PC's. It was generated by my brother
and attached to a email note with a .doc sufix. Since it was NOT a
.docx formatted document that explains why the XML Converter came back
with a note that the file was already converted. Yep.

My Office 2004 Mac Word could not open the .doc document. I finally
forced the issue by changing the Open With option to the Mac Word. It
then opened the document but some of the formatting was broken. At
least I could finally open the document.

It should have opened it. Your method is the correct way to encourage
Word 2004 to do what it is supposed to.

I was hoping the PC version of Word had a Save As option that could be
read by the 2004 Mac Word. i have not seen the PC program and my
brother does not understand why my Word cannot read documents created by
his new Vista PC running MS Word.

It has. I don't know the exact magic words, but saving it as Word 2003
should work, since that is more or less exactly the same as that which
Word 2004 uses. When he does so, the file should automagically get a
..doc extension which your Word 2004 should be happy with.

There is some chance the file was subtly mangled by either or both your
e-mail programs. An easy test and insurance policy is for the bro to
zip it up before attaching it to his e-mail.

Sometimes the formatting does go a little astray, particularly page
breaks and sometimes line wrapping. That will happen even PC to PC and
Mac to Mac. Differences in the printers and fonts at each end account
for that. Oh, and Word never was any good at page layout. Its defenders
say it was never meant to be.

 

[Dave Fritzinger]

Dave,

Thanks for the note. The document sent to me was generated on a PC
using MS Word for Vista based PC's. It was generated by my brother
and attached to a email note with a .doc sufix. Since it was NOT a
.docx formatted document that explains why the XML Converter came back
with a note that the file was already converted.

My Office 2004 Mac Word could not open the .doc document. I finally
forced the issue by changing the Open With option to the Mac Word. It
then opened the document but some of the formatting was broken. At
least I could finally open the document.

I was hoping the PC version of Word had a Save As option that could be
read by the 2004 Mac Word. i have not seen the PC program and my
brother does not understand why my Word cannot read documents created by
his new Vista PC running MS Word.

aRKay

As far as I know, you shouldn't have any problem opening any .doc file
with Mac Word 2004, as MS kept the same file format from about Word 97
or so (IIRC). Additionally, you should be able to open any .doc file
with Pages (any version) or even TextEdit (in Tiger or better, again
IIRC), though you will lose complex formatting in TextEdit, and may
lose some graphics in Word or Pages. I know that I regularly exchange
word documents with colleagues using PC Word (though usually on XP,
not Vista).

HTH

 

[Dave Fritzinger]

Sometimes the formatting does go a little astray, particularly page
breaks and sometimes line wrapping. That will happen even PC to PC and
Mac to Mac. Differences in the printers and fonts at each end account
for that. Oh, and Word never was any good at page layout. Its defenders
say it was never meant to be.

You are certainly correct in all that you say above. Especially wrt
the (lack of) page layout in Word. I have seen the craziest things
happen with graphics when I try to place them in one particular place
on a page...

 

[Mr. Strat]

Thanks for the note. The document sent to me was generated on a PC
using MS Word for Vista based PC's. It was generated by my brother
and attached to a email note with a .doc sufix. Since it was NOT a
.docx formatted document that explains why the XML Converter came back
with a note that the file was already converted.

My Office 2004 Mac Word could not open the .doc document. I finally
forced the issue by changing the Open With option to the Mac Word. It
then opened the document but some of the formatting was broken. At
least I could finally open the document.

I was hoping the PC version of Word had a Save As option that could be
read by the 2004 Mac Word. i have not seen the PC program and my
brother does not understand why my Word cannot read documents created by
his new Vista PC running MS Word.

*IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VISTA!*

 

[Barry Wainwright]

*IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VISTA!*

Since we so frequently ask posters to give us details of their operating
system version and office version, it seems a little churlish to complain
when they volunteer such information, doesn't it?

It may not be relevant in this case, but it doesn't warrant such a shouted
response.

--
Barry Wainwright
Microsoft MVP (see <http://www.microsoft.com/mvp/> for details)
Visit the Entourage User¹s Weblog for Hints, tips and troubleshooting
information:
http://www.barryw.net/weblog/

 

[John McGhie]

Trust me, we will be in here too, if you behave like that.

But I am puzzled: you seem to be extremely interested in that part of the
human anatomy?

I mean, your sexuality is none of our business, of course. But I am sure we
would rather you didn't discuss it in here...

I subscribe to some other groups where the Aussies are a pain in the
ass.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[John McGhie]

Yes. It does. If you don't know what it has to do with Vista, you have not
yet understood the problem.

*IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VISTA!*

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[aRKay]

*IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VISTA!*

You keep saying the same thing over and over again. Yes it does!

I never had problems with MS Word (.doc) files that were generated on PC
operating under XP . The MS Word problems started when PC users changed
to Vista that may have required a new version of Word.

 

[Mr. Strat]

Since we so frequently ask posters to give us details of their operating
system version and office version, it seems a little churlish to complain
when they volunteer such information, doesn't it?

It may not be relevant in this case, but it doesn't warrant such a shouted
response.

The guy keeps mentioning that the problem comes from someone using
Vista, implying that it's a Vista issue, not an Office 2007 issue.

 

[Mr. Strat]

Yes. It does. If you don't know what it has to do with Vista, you have not
yet understood the problem.

I believe Office 2007 also runs on XP and will cause the same problem.
Granted, Vista is a pitiful piece of shit, but it's not a Vista
problem.