Microsoft Word Compatibility Issues! URGENT!

[nope7308]

I used a standard resume template in Word 2008 Mac that is not displaying properly in Windows. Here is a brief description:

On my Mac:
The document is perfectly formatted and displayed on 2 pages.

On my PC:
With ".doc" format, my name doesn't appear. In its place, I have yellow text that reads "address blocked". Additionally, the text spills onto a third page, even though the font, font size, spacing, etc. is all the same.

I then tried saving the document in ".rtf" format, and while my name did appear, the text still spills onto a third page. I cannot fit all the text (in a Windows environment) without cutting out important content.

I'm so thoroughly pissed off with this. There should be no compatibility issues in this case because I'm using a STANDARD resume template that came with Word '08. When I saved the document, I made sure to select the "windows friendly" option.

Can anyone help me out? This is urgent because I need to forward my resume to a colleague before the end of today. Thanks for your help!

 

[spice weasel]

I don't really have an answer for you, but maybe a potential work-around: save the file as a pdf and send it that way. Then you'll have it formatted the way you want. Of course this won't really work if you are sending it to your friend to edit.

 

[nope7308]

I don't really have an answer for you, but maybe a potential work-around: save the file as a pdf and send it that way. Then you'll have it formatted the way you want. Of course this won't really work if you are sending it to your friend to edit.

That workaround will do for now - thanks for the suggestion!

BUT, does anyone have a permanent solution? This is really quite problematic as I often have to send files between OS X and Windows, and I simply don't have the time/patience to **** around with formatting/compatibility issues.

 

[reclusivemonkey]

I often have to send files between OS X and Windows, and I simply don't have the time/patience to **** around with formatting/compatibility issues.

That's an oxymoron. Use OSX or Windows; if you use both you WILL have formatting/compatibility issues. Word 2008 for Mac is a totally different beast to Word 2007 or earlier.

 

[nope7308]

That's an oxymoron. Use OSX or Windows; if you use both you WILL have formatting/compatibility issues. Word 2008 for Mac is a totally different beast to Word 2007 or earlier.

In that case, Word is the oxymoron, not my work environment. I still don't understand how a Word template isn't compatible with Word... even the "windows friendly" option is useless.

Perhaps a Microsoft rep can explain the logic behind that one...

 

[one1]

Word 2008 saves as docX, not doc. Even if you are on the same windows machine and save in 2008, then open 2007 on the same machine it will not be compatible. The two versions simply do not work together at all, period. It's not a cross platform issue, it's a Microsoft issue. People who have never seen a Mac still have the same problem.

doc was a wordpad format in similarity, while docX is an XML file so it might open in excel.

These two links came up with a google search:

http://www.geckoandfly.com/2009/03/...oft-office-2007-docx-format-with-office-2003/

http://therealsouthkorea.wordpress....soft-word-2007-documents-without-the-program/

 

[nope7308]

Word 2008 saves as docX, not doc. Even if you are on the same windows machine and save in 2008, then open 2007 on the same machine it will not be compatible. The two versions simply do not work together at all, period. It's not a cross platform issue, it's a Microsoft issue. People who have never seen a Mac still have the same problem.

doc was a wordpad format in similarity, while docX is an XML file so it might open in excel.

These two links came up with a google search:

http://www.geckoandfly.com/2009/03/...oft-office-2007-docx-format-with-office-2003/

http://therealsouthkorea.wordpress....soft-word-2007-documents-without-the-program/

I'm not sure I understand what you mean...

I realize that ".docx" is the new default format in Word 2007/2008. Since I work in Mac/PC environment with Office 2003, 2007, and 2008, I always save files as either ".doc" or ".rtf".

Given that these are basic word processing formats (or so I thought), I'm not sure why there's a compatibility issue. I don't have any super fancy formatting in the document either.

 

[miles01110]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean...

I realize that ".docx" is the new default format in Word 2007/2008. Since I work in Mac/PC environment with Office 2003, 2007, and 2008, I always save files as either ".doc" or ".rtf".

Given that these are basic word processing formats (or so I thought), I'm not sure why there's a compatibility issue. I don't have any super fancy formatting in the document either.

Do you just change it to ".doc" from ".docx", or do you change the file type in the drop-down menu? I'm not sure if doing one is the same as doing the other.

 

[nope7308]

Do you just change it to ".doc" from ".docx", or do you change the file type in the drop-down menu? I'm not sure if doing one is the same as doing the other.

I save it the proper way... "Save as", then I select the appropriate extension. Additionally, I even ran a "compatibility check" which indicated that the document should be fully compatible with both Office 2003 and Office 2007.

 

[one1]

Quite odd, but I am unfortunately not one who uses a windows machine behind my Mac so I an unaware of how to solve the issue, just figured I'd throw out a few links and some ideas.

 

[nope7308]

Quite odd, but I am unfortunately not one who uses a windows machine behind my Mac so I an unaware of how to solve the issue, just figured I'd throw out a few links and some ideas.

Either way, I appreciate the gesture!

It's just frustrating - I know I can work entirely in the OS X environment, but I do have to collaborate with colleagues in a Windows environment. Damn, I really wish Microsoft would get their act together.

I still can't believe a native Word template is incompatible with Word...

 

[larkost]

You are never going to be able to find a magical solution that will make different version of word format things identically. The formatting will always be dependent on:

• The exact fonts installed (and different Microsoft product install different versions of fonts named the same.. and not just Word or Office, lots of things can count)
• The current printer on each computer (the margins will change)
• Lots of particulars about the version of Word installed (not just a Mac/Windows issue... can crop up from different version on the same os)

PDF is the only way.

 

[mooblie]

I suggest in Office Word:mac 2008 you go:

Word Menureferences:Save: Save Word Files as = Word 97-2004 Document (.doc)

 

[nope7308]

I suggest in Office Word:mac 2008 you go:

Word Menureferences:Save: Save Word Files as = Word 97-2004 Document (.doc)

Already did that.

I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and accept format incompatibility. Is it really that difficult to have a single program preserve formatting between two different operating systems? I don't think my expectation is that unreasonable...

 

[Consultant]

Fonts are different. You might lack some fonts on one of the systems.

You don't design using MS products. Note that if you look at the Print Layout, it's going to be little different than looking at it via Word's own print preview, and that might look slightly different than the actual printed page.

Make PDF to keep formatting; otherwise you need to use an Adobe app.

You are never going to be able to find a magical solution that will make different version of word format things identically. The formatting will always be dependent on:

• The exact fonts installed (and different Microsoft product install different versions of fonts named the same.. and not just Word or Office, lots of things can count)
• The current printer on each computer (the margins will change)
• Lots of particulars about the version of Word installed (not just a Mac/Windows issue... can crop up from different version on the same os)

PDF is the only way.

Yup.

 

[Diaresi]

Already did that.

I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and accept format incompatibility. Is it really that difficult to have a single program preserve formatting between two different operating systems? I don't think my expectation is that unreasonable...

It's not an expectation that's unreasonable... but...

Option 1) Microsoft create a fully native OS X Office. Integrates well with everything, Mac like etc. The problem is this means the code base is different to Office Windows. Of course you can get files looking exact most of the time, but 100% is very hard (unless you were somehow able to be so strict into how a program handles a file). Mac users moan about incompatibility.

Option 2) Microsoft effectively port Office Windows to Mac. This should(!) solve any compatibility issues (like, for example OpenOffice). Mac users moan about it being non-Mac like.


Microsoft have just released Office 2007 SP2 that has native ODF support. If there are zero problems between Office 2007 and OpenOffice then I retract the above statements and Microsoft should get their act together.