Things You Need To Know About A Docx Converter

By Author: Daniel Pohoryles
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Though many perceive that Apple has a higher satisfaction rate, both Apple and Microsoft have a long history of confusing and irritating their customers. Although it has moderated its bad habits, through the 1980s and 1990s Apple would routinely lower prices or discontinue Macintosh models right after selling them at full price to a boatload of folks, and their first laptops had considerable problems. Microsoft, on the other hand, has had issues with "vaporware" (programs and updates that do not materialize on time, or at all), and they have dropped features and changed capabilities with little or no advance warning.

In the latest version of its Office suite, which is Office 2007 for PCs and Office 2008 for Mac, the company changed the default file type of its ubiquitous Word program to an OpenXML format called docx. Of course, in true Microsoft fashion, the docx format is not only incompatible with most other word processors; it is incompatible with older version of the company"s own software. This means most users, Mac and PC, will have to jump through at least one hoop to deal with this new format if they do not have ...
... the newest Office and receive documents from those who do.

The freebie method
Fortunately, the Internet is full of people who love dinking and dorking around with "geek level" stuff, so there are already a raft of free docx converters that will make doc files out of docx ones. A quick search engine foray will uncover literally hundreds of them. However, they work in myriad ways. Some only let you open the docx files, with no editing possible, while others are plug-ins to competing word processors that allow opening and re-saving in alternative formats.

Many of the tools convert the docx files into a generic file format, such as rtf (Rich Text Format), so that the file can be opened by even the most basic text editors - such as TextEdit and SimpleText on the Mac, and Notepad and WordPad on PC. The Internet-centric html (HyperText Markup Language) format is also a target file format for some of these "save as another type" converters. Although they will do a decent job, there are some issues to be aware of.

Conversion aversion
Users should remember that there are some possible shortcomings of html conversion and they may lose some of the original document"s formatting. Although basic formatting like bold, underlines and italics are normally supported in newer versions, some other formatting and a range of special characters may not convert properly. The rtf format is the more versatile conversion "target format" and will produce documents virtually identical to originals in most cases.

A simple and trusted way to deal with these issues is to download the MS Word Viewer application from the Microsoft Web site. It is a small program and has no editing capabilities. A better choice may be the Open XML add-on for older versions of MS Office, although there have been a number of irritating glitches reported. Fortunately, there are still other (and still free) ways of dealing with this matter. Open source to the rescue!

OpenOffice opens Office files
Over the last few years, many people have left the Microsoft fold and moved to open source software for both Macs and PCs. The free OpenOffice suite opens docx files without plug-ins, add-ons, extra steps or conversion worries. This works with the Linux version of the program, too. It may be, however, that Mac users have the most choices in this situation, as there are multiple ways of solving the docx conundrum on Apple computers.

As stated above, users of the Mac MS Office suite can get the Open XML plug-in from the MS Office Web site, or download the MS Word viewer free of charge. Mac users also have the choice of using the OpenOffice program, as well as the Mac iWork application Pages, for which there are many add-ons and "widgets" that can convert docx files to doc format with little or no loss of content or formatting.

Final thoughts
The leading layout programs, QuarkXPress and InDesign, have both distributed conversion plug-ins to handle accurate import of docx files. At first, these were prone to formatting glitches, too, but are now considered stable, according to the consensus of users on the software forums. This is a rather roundabout way of accomplishing a conversion, but if you have no other way, it is good to know about. You can also export files in various formats from these applications.

If, for some reason, you don"t want to use OpenOffice or upgrade your MS Office application, you can stick with the standalone or plug-in converters. Do a little testing to see how the documents you generally use-with or without pictures, tables, columns, etc.-come out after a conversion with the various alternative methods. If nothing is working for you as well as you require, you can always ask that the person sending you the file save it in doc format for you. However, for ongoing compatibility, you should work out a good, solid conversion method that will not waste your time or cause you any more stress than you already have.
About Author:
Panergy is a leading developer of software for the Mac since 1992. Panergy creates a multilingual docx converter software that allows users to gain access to documents created by applications they have not installed in order to improve their development and workflow for Print and Web Publishing.