Word for Mac

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montmill

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My wife has an older MacBook and has had Microsoft word for some time. Something happened that it no longer became workable so now all her files are gibberish. She found a substitute word program for Mac but she has lots of genealogical information on the old word files and would like to access them for use.

I am a PC person so don't know what's available for the MacBook. Is it possible to simply purchase Word and use in on the Mac, or is it a subscription?

Thanks for your help.
 
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its_virgil

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Jan 1, 2004
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Wichita Falls, TX, USA.
My wife has an older MacBook and has had Microsoft word for some time. Something happened that it no longer became workable so now all her files are gibberish. She found a substitute word program for Mac but she has lots of genealogical information on the old word files and would like to access them for use.

I am a PC person so don't know what's available for the MacBook. Is it possible to simply purchase Word and use in on the Mac, or is it a subscription?

Thanks for your help.
Open Office is a MS Office open source workalike. I use it and it has opened every MS office file I have...word, excel, power point, etc and MS Office will open the Open Office files. Maybe worth a try.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
 

Jay

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Pages is a Mac product that opens and is compatible with Word. Not sure if it is free, but it comes loaded on almost every Mac I've owned. I also use Libre Office like Curly. It is free and opens both Word and WordPerfect files. I also have NeoOffice which is also free and opens both Word and WordPerfect. Either LibreOffice or NeoOffice should solve her problems.
Jay
 

leehljp

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There used to be a couple of apps (called programs way back when) that would open files cross platform with all the info intact, I will see If I can find them.

Depending upon which version of the OS (32 bit or 64 bit) most are for 64 bit now.
Here is one: The Document Converter
Also, Go to: https://www.macupdate.com
Mac Updates has one of the largest troves of software updates and apps.
Search for "Document Conversion"
 
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penicillin

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Which versions of MacOS and Microsoft Word were running on your wife's Mac? Are all of the Word files affected, or is the problem associated only with old Word for Mac files?

Microsoft Word for Mac has been through many revisions since the 1980s. The default document format for Word for Mac changed several times over the decades. The older formats were very different from one another and they are also different from today's ".docx" format.

Note: Before the UNIX-based MacOS X 1.0 appeared, there was the Classic Mac OS, which did not need or use file extensions. Word files from that era may or may not have ".doc" extensions in their filenames, but that doesn't matter. You can easily rename a file and add a ".doc" extension if it helps.

As Word for Mac evolved over the years, Microsoft incorporated converters that could read the older, obsolete Word file formats. It was automatic and transparent. Word for Mac 2004 was the last version that could read and convert the oldest format of Word for Mac files. If your wife's files are that old, then Word for Mac 2008 and later cannot read them. I have Word for Mac document files from the 1980s and 1990s that cannot be read by any current version of Microsoft Word. Any version of Word can find the "text" within a document, but if you do that, all formatting is lost and there is a lot of garbage to sift through.

My Not Helpful Solution:
I have a very old Mac running Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" with Word 2004 installed. It is a VMware Fusion "virtual machine" that can run in its own window on a modern Mac. Unfortunately, that solution will not work for most people.

Without more specifics about the problem and the files in question, it is difficult to suggest other ways to solve the problem.

I like the idea of trying LibreOffice. Choose LibreOffice over OpenOffice. LibreOffice is essentially the same as OpenOffice. They split about ten years ago, but LibreOffice has been much better maintained and supported since then. I use and like LibreOffice on other systems, but never tried it on that ancient Word for Mac file format.

Hank Lee suggested converters, which may work if your problem is not that ancient Word for Mac file format. Few converters can read the ancient format, and to the best of my knowledge, they are all commercial products.

Hank Lee also suggested MacUpdate. AVOID MACUPDATE!! They cannot be trusted. MacUpdate may try to install adware or other unwanted software in addition to whatever application you download.

If you find a product you like, download it from the original developers' websites ONLY. No exceptions and no excuses. Take the time and make the effort to figure out the original developer and find their website.

Please post more details about the versions of MacOS, Microsoft Word, and the document files that have issues. Please tell us whether the problem is with all documents or only certain ones. What is different about the ones that fail?
 

penicillin

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Update, a couple hours later:

I found and copied a very old Word for Mac file to a Linux system running LibreOffice. That Word file has been unchanged since 1989.

To my surprise, it opened perfectly with LibreOffice on Linux. Not only that, but it did a better job reading that file than genuine Microsoft Word 2004. There was a graphic that never reproduced in true Microsoft Word. I have not seen that graphic in ages. LibreOffice displayed the graphic and the text, formatted exactly as it was when I created it over 30 years ago. LibreOffice should work the same on Windows or Mac as well as Linux.

My recommendation:
Try LibreOffice to open the files. LibreOffice is free and open source. It has a long history and is very stable and mature. Here is a link to the genuine website for LibreOffice. Download it from here, not anywhere else:
https://www.libreoffice.org

- - - - -

A Related Note:
-> I will be switching from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice soon on my own "production computer'. I have used LibreOffice on other (and others' systems. I am upgrading MacOS, and this version of Office won't run on it. Rather than paying for a new version of Office, I will use LibreOffice. It will do a good job for me.
 

montmill

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13528 Old Hwy. G Montfort, Wisconsin
Wow, thank you all for your input. What an amazing storehouse of knowledge. I'm afraid I've opened a can of worms that I need to put on the back burner due to the holidays and recovery from hip replacement. As you might guess we're not computer people, rather view them as tools to be used and not necessarily understood. Guilty as charged. I have copied and printed off the responses and will go into detail with them after Easter with my family. thanks again.
 

MelaniePayne

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Apr 12, 2021
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USA,NY
I understand you very well, as I had the same problem. My MacBook stopped working with Microsoft Word, and I had to install a similar app, but alas, my dissertation would not open in that app. I was so frustrated and didn't know what to do because I was supposed to hand in my dissertation in a couple of days. I searched different forums for information on opening the document I needed or restoring it. I found salvagedata.com they helped me restore my dissertation in the new app.
 
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