Is rtf a proprietary format?

[Walter R.]

I would like to send some Word documents to persons who do not have Word on
their computers. Therefore they cannot open Word docs. However, they all use
MS Windows 98 to XP.

If I send the files as .rtf, will they be able to open them with any
computer running Windows? Or, is rtf also a MS proprietary format.

Or, can I only send it as a txt document? This would be very
counterproductive because all formatting and fonts are lost.

Thank you

 

[JoAnn Paules]

Why don't you send those files as .PDF files?

 

[Jay Freedman]

I would like to send some Word documents to persons who do not have Word on
their computers. Therefore they cannot open Word docs. However, they all use
MS Windows 98 to XP.

If I send the files as .rtf, will they be able to open them with any
computer running Windows? Or, is rtf also a MS proprietary format.

Or, can I only send it as a txt document? This would be very
counterproductive because all formatting and fonts are lost.

Thank you

Yes, RTF is a proprietary Microsoft format, although the
specifications have been published and there are other programs
(notably WordPerfect) that can read it, although maybe not display the
latest enhancements.

No, the recipients probably can't view RTF files quite the way you
formatted them with just what comes with Windows, although WordPad
will let them come fairly close.

They can download the free Word 2003 Viewer from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...87-8732-48D5-8689-AB826E7B8FDF&displaylang=en
to read Word (.doc) files exactly as you formatted them. It's an 11 MB
download, though.

They can download the free OpenOffice suite from
http://www.openoffice.org. That's an even bigger download. The word
processor in that suite does a pretty good job of imitating Word.

You can get any one of several free add-ins (for example,
http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp) for your copy of
Word to let you save the document as a PDF file. Most people already
have the Adobe Reader, but if they don't, they can get it from
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. This is probably
the best path if the recipients don't have to edit the documents.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Poprivet]

Yes, it's proprietary, but not as you usually think of it:

Its sole reason for existence is to be able to transfer documents between
different versions of different applications. Most all text or word
processors these days can read RTF files.
So, RTF is the right thing to use when you don't know whether the readers
will have the same version of Word as you do. VERY handy, and intended for
just what your'e doing. In theory any version of Word can read the file you
save as a PDF. Some things -might- go missing on occasion if the receiver's
version is too old, but ... straight text and pictures, things like that,
it's usually a perfect transfer.
Try it; pretty sure it'll work for you. Any program that can read RTF
(Rich Text Format) files can then read it, such as Wordperfect, Word 1,
Excel, Open Office, etc..

Pop`