Compatibility with MS Word

[magneticanomaly]

My frequent collaboratro uses Microsoft Word. I use Open Office.

He often complains about trouble with the files I send to him, which I save and send in Word 97/2000/XP format

Now he says my OO files corrupted his system and he had to reload everrthing.

Is this possible? How can I minimize the friction? I have changed a few default settings to make my OO files mre similar to Word, and I now learn that Word should be able to open OO files.

[Zizi64]

He often complains about trouble with the files I send to him, which I save and send in Word 97/2000/XP format

Never work in foreign, never standardized file formats in the Apache OpenOffice nor in LibreOffice. Store your important documents in the international standard ODF file formats (.odt for the Writer application).

And make (export) a copy in the supported foreign file format at end of the editing - if it is necessary.

Note: The Apache OpenOffice can not save into the OOXML file formats (.docx) but the LibreOffice can, and the LO has a littlebit higher compatibility with the foreign file formats.

Prefer the ODF file formats. The newer MS Office software versions can open them (the 1.1 version of the ODF file format). You can set it in the Load/Save settings.

[Zizi64]

Now he says my OO files corrupted his system and he had to reload everrthing.

The ODF documents can not corrupt any system.

[RoryOF]

As OpenOffice is a free download, your collaborator can install it on his computer so that you both use the same editing program. As Zizi64 has said, OpenOffice files cannot corrupt anything, but if your collaborator believes that, whether he should use OpenOffice becomes questionable.

[John_Ha]

Point your friend to this thread.

There is absolutely no way in which a file created by AOO or LO can corrupt a PC (with the rare exception of a rogue macro being included in the document).

See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files for a description of differences and for why you should always work in, and save Writer files as .odt, Calc files as .ods, Impress files as .odp etc.

Send your friend .odt files.

Note: There is a bug in AOO, but not LO, where if you:

• have Edit > Record Changes set to ON
• have comments attached to a range of characters
• and you delete two (or more?) such comments

AOO corrupts the file. See Issue 128356 - Track Changes and Annotations on text range can cause corruption. Applies to 4.x (all versions?). Such a corrupted file can be repaired.

[Platinet]

It is good practice when sending documents to others to use the PDF format.

This can be done from; File -> Export as PDF...

Otherwise, when saving; File -> Save as -> Select "File Type" as
"Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP"

You may lose some formating saving in Word Format, but it will make it easier for the next person.

I recommend sending all documents in PDF format, this allows anyone to view a document, even from a mobile device.

[Zizi64]

The LibreOffice can create hybrid PDF files. The PDF file will open as a pure pdf in a PDF reader software, but you can edit the embedded ODF file with LibreOffice.

[John_Ha]

The LibreOffice can create hybrid PDF files. The PDF file will open as a pure pdf in a PDF reader software, but you can edit the embedded ODF file with LibreOffice.

So can AOO.