Which non-Word word processor handles .doc and .docx files best?

[GanChan]

By "best," I mean in terms of preserving the formatting. I normally prefer Bean for everyday causal work, but I've noticed that when I export Bean files to .doc and then try to work with them in Word, bulleted lists and whatnot don't always look like they're supposed to. (I have a lot of clients who use Word for everything who need to be able to manipulate/revise my files themselves, otherwise I'd just send them everything as a PDF.)

I'm tired of patching my old Office 2004, and I'm not interested in paying big bucks for Office 2011 when I only need the word processor.

Do I need a more full-featured word processor such as NeoOffice, etc? I understand that NeoOffice is somewhat sluggish, at least at startup, but if it gets the job done....

 

[Daveoc64]

Give LibreOffice a go:

http://www.libreoffice.org/download/

It's a fork of the old "OpenOffice" project.

 

[r0k]

I vote for LibreOffice as well. I found a few times Pages did a better job of opening a docx file but for the most part, OOO or LibreOffice does the best job of any non-MS product.

 

[GanChan]

I vote for LibreOffice as well. I found a few times Pages did a better job of opening a docx file but for the most part, OOO or LibreOffice does the best job of any non-MS product.

I will look at LibreOffice. As for OpenOffice, would you say that it handles these file types better than NeoOffice?

 

[ScoobyMcDoo]

Not exactly what you asked for, but I have found that Google Docs works well when sharing documents among a group. It can also import/export MS Doc files.

 

[BrickbookPro]

Microsoft Live Online (free) does a decent job of basic doc/docx work. If you're having issues opening a document with heavy word formatting, the online version may be able to at least open it and give you an accurate visual.

 

[Abercombie]

I'm using NeoOffice and I'm very pleased with it. The only down side for me is that it's eating a lot of memory and opens very slowly. But I think that my MacBook Pro is the one to blame, it's an old machine.

 

[GanChan]

I'm using NeoOffice and I'm very pleased with it. The only down side for me is that it's eating a lot of memory and opens very slowly. But I think that my MacBook Pro is the one to blame, it's an old machine.

just tested both LibreOffice and Neooffice. LibreOffice starts up faster, but NeoOffice seems to preserve bullets more accurately (at least when saving as Word95 docs). Of course, if I just leave NeoOffice open all the time, the startup speed won't really matter....

 

[dime21]

By "best," I mean in terms of preserving the formatting. I normally prefer Bean for everyday causal work, but I've noticed that when I export Bean files to .doc and then try to work with them in Word, bulleted lists and whatnot don't always look like they're supposed to. (I have a lot of clients who use Word for everything who need to be able to manipulate/revise my files themselves, otherwise I'd just send them everything as a PDF.)

I'm tired of patching my old Office 2004, and I'm not interested in paying big bucks for Office 2011 when I only need the word processor.

Do I need a more full-featured word processor such as NeoOffice, etc? I understand that NeoOffice is somewhat sluggish, at least at startup, but if it gets the job done....

What is your definition of "handle"? Are you wanting to create content in .doc and .docx format? Or just view it?

Open Source word processors are great, but since Microsoft keeps their office files proprietary, they will always be a few steps behind the curve in file-format compatibility.

The ideal option here is to not use the proprietary .doc and .docx Microsoft file formats. Use the .ODT OpenDocument format that OpenOffice (and LibreOffice) use. That file format is natively supported by the open source word processors, and it's also supported in newer versions of Microsoft Word.

 

[cinematicme]

Pages, Bean, OpenOffice, etc