Okay, I have a school emailing me to say that they can’t open files named ______.docx . These files are microsoft word files. Why are they .doc"x" and how do I fix that? Help, please!!
.docx is a new format in Office 2007. If they’re using an older version, they won’t be able to open it. Save as, uh, Word97/2000/XP, or something like that.
.docx is a new format in Office 2007. If they’re using an older version, they won’t be able to open it. Save as, uh, Word97/2000/XP, or something like that.[/quote]
Wonderful! thanks!
[quote=“Chris”]I hate .docx files too. :raspberry: [/quote]MS just can’t win, can they? People rip on proprietary binary formats, and then when MS adopt a somewhat more interchangeable format, while doing all they can to ensure that legacy software users aren’t left high and dry, they get more flak. Using Office Open XML as the default would have been better, but .docx is better than .doc, at least.
[quote=“Chris”]Fortunately there are sites like this:
docx2doc.com/[/quote]I would be wary about using pay software from companies that don’t say who they are, when you can get a well-integrated docx/doc compatibility plugin free from MS. Or is there something the compatibility pack doesn’t do that the other converter does?
- Open MS Word 2007
- Click the Office 2007 logo button (top left)
- Click “Word Options” (bottom right of menu)
- Click “Save” tab
- Under “Save documents in this format”, select “Word 97-2003 (.doc)”
Your default file format is now “.doc” & you shouldn’t have further problems. Same options/process for the rest of Office 2007 like PowerPoint, Excel, etc.
For users receiving Office 2007 files you can’t open, just upgrade your out-of-date software & quit bitching! 
(I actually hated the new Office when I started using it - can’t find a damn thing in the menus! Gets easier after a while, but now I rarely need to use it anyway … thankfully!)
I’ve never ripped on them for their .doc format; I merely rip at their decision to make .docx the default for their latest version of Word when most people use earlier versions. It’s a concept called “backward compatibility”.
Or, as they say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
[quote=“joesax”][quote=“Chris”]Fortunately there are sites like this:
docx2doc.com/[/quote]I would be wary about using pay software from companies that don’t say who they are, when you can get a well-integrated docx/doc compatibility plugin free from MS. Or is there something the compatibility pack doesn’t do that the other converter does?[/quote]
That site converts files for free.
Well, but it was broke, in the sense of being extremely difficult for third-party software to work with. Being able to automatically convert to and from Word in a reliable way is a big deal.
And if they hadn’t made it the default, it wouldn’t get widely used.
Or you could get them to install the 2007 Compatibility pack, which will let them open the .docx files.
microsoft.com/downloads/deta … laylang=en
I like .docx files continue to use them. I just make other people install the Com.Pack to read my files.
I’ve never ripped on them for their .doc format; I merely rip at their decision to make .docx the default for their latest version of Word when most people use earlier versions. It’s a concept called “backward compatibility”.
Or, as they say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.[/quote]
Microsloth’s past actions and goals remain the same now: create new “standard” formats that don’t work with older or competing software, forcing people to buy new Microsloth programs instead of using older ones or competitors’ software.
Making newer documents incompatible with older programs is deliberate planned obsolescence to increase sales. It’s just another example of Microsloth trying to eliminate and prevent customer choice.
[quote=“MPenguin”]Or you could get them to install the 2007 Compatibility pack, which will let them open the .docx files.
microsoft.com/downloads/deta … laylang=en
[/quote]
Question: On the compatibility pack: is there an equivalent available for Office for Mac 2004?
Comments: I’ve pretty much stopped using MS Word on Windows computers - I mainly use Open Office now, since I can put it on a USB/ thumb drive and then use the same system/ preferences/ application setup on any of the computers in my many different classrooms.
Open Office can handle .docx files, which is another benefit of switching over; as well, you can download the English version. Like a lot of foreigners in Taiwan, I’m stuck using computers at work that have only Chinese-language software; Open Office helps me get around this. (Incidentally, in English I prefer the older Office programs because I know where I’m going; in Chinese I like Office 2007 far more, because it’s more icon-based. I don’t really understand the hate out there for Office 2007, although the file format issues are a pain.)
Open Office also seems a little less flaky on margins and indentations, although it still has an amazing ability to suddenly realign everything when I hit the tab key.
However, I still use Excel a lot.