is Word 2004 compatible with earlier Words, esp. Revision Tracking?

[eveningclouds]

We need to send Revision Tracked files back and forth to authors, who
I know do not have and will not have Mac Word 2004. We would like to
upgrade, however. Will authors using older PC and Mac versions of Word
still be able to open our Word files and see the Revision Tracking
plus Comments, Footnotes, etc.? I've looked on this forum but can't
find the answer. Thanks.

 

[matt neuburg]

We need to send Revision Tracked files back and forth to authors, who
I know do not have and will not have Mac Word 2004. We would like to
upgrade, however. Will authors using older PC and Mac versions of Word
still be able to open our Word files and see the Revision Tracking
plus Comments, Footnotes, etc.? I've looked on this forum but can't
find the answer. Thanks.

I think so. The compatibility report does not warn, and my own tests
have shown no problems. The difference is evidently in the mode / manner
of display, not in the underlying information. m.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

We need to send Revision Tracked files back and forth to authors, who
I know do not have and will not have Mac Word 2004. We would like to
upgrade, however. Will authors using older PC and Mac versions of Word
still be able to open our Word files and see the Revision Tracking
plus Comments, Footnotes, etc.? I've looked on this forum but can't
find the answer. Thanks.

Track Changes has always been somewhat prone to corruption, but with
that caveat, yes, Word 2004 is compatible with previous versions.

 

[John McGhie]

Yes, they will be able to see them.

However, there are issues with switching documents containing meta-data
between versions of Word.

The security provisions have been enhanced in Word 2004. If you enable the
Privacy Options on the Security tab in Word>Preferences, you are removing
the meta-data Word uses to provide the names of the reviewers who made the
revisions and comments. The revisions and comments will remain in the
document, but the names and colour codes of the users who made them will be
set to an anonymous value.

Footnotes will be fine provided you do not send them to versions of Word
older than Word 97. If you do, their numbering will be turned into ordinary
text and stop updating.

Cheers

We need to send Revision Tracked files back and forth to authors, who
I know do not have and will not have Mac Word 2004. We would like to
upgrade, however. Will authors using older PC and Mac versions of Word
still be able to open our Word files and see the Revision Tracking
plus Comments, Footnotes, etc.? I've looked on this forum but can't
find the answer. Thanks.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Asterionic]

In a word, "NO".

I am now in the process of uninstalling Office 2004 for just this
'incompatibility' reason.
The many, carefully formatted documents that I have laid out in WordX do
not display or print properly in Word 2004!!
To be specific: (i) the line spacing is totally wrong (Word2004 says that the
paragraph format is single line spacing, but displays and prints it at what
looks like double spacing);
(ii) Columns are rearranged/resized.
(iii) Text boxes are repositioned.
I have tried a selection of documents on three seperate Macs in our office
using Office 2004 and get the same results.
So, yet again, the user is screwed by Microsoft!
I am returning my disk, and demanding a refund as their piss-poor product
is clearly not "fit for purpose."
My advice: Stick to OfficeX. While Office 2004 might be OK when it's
finished, as usual Microsoft have released a bug-ridden version in an
attempt to milk some quick profit from their unlucky user base.
It's about time they were taken to task for this unethical business practice,
and a class action organised to account for all the wasted time, money and
stress they cause.

 

[Gene van Troyer]

It's about time they were taken to task for this unethical business practice,
and a class action organised to account for all the wasted time, money and
stress they cause.

Did you try copying your Word v.X Normal Template to Word 2004? I don't know
if this will solve you problem, but it may have some influence. Quite by
accident I discovered that my Japanese Word v.X Normal Template had added a
number of toolbars and other things to my English Language Word 2004 (like
Japanese menu command to the View menu).

Likewise, maybe you could swap over the Word Settings file from v.X to
2004...

Gene van Troyer