Meaning of extension ".docx" in MS Word 2007"

S

sheana

Hi,

I have MS Word 2007 and Windows 7. Can you tell me what the extension
".docx" means when I save a document? I always saw only the ".doc" extension
in previous versions. Thanks in advance.
 
D

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

docx denotes that the file is in Word 2007 file format; docm denotes that
the file is in Word 2007 format and that it contains macros. A docx format
file cannot contain macros.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
 
Y

Yves Dhondt

It's a new file format. ".docx" files are basically zip archives (you can
change .docx to .zip and open the files in Windows) containing a bunch of
xml files.

The advantage of the ".docx" format is that it implements the 'open xml'
standard (both ECMA and ISO certified). This is important as governments
world wide are starting to ask for open standards for documents. The new
format also has some advantages for programmers: they make it much easier to
create and manipulate Office documents without user interaction. Also, as
".docx" files are actually zip archives, they tend to require less disk
space.

As it is a new format, older versions of Word are not automatically capable
of handling the newer files. To solve this issue, Microsoft released a
compatibility pack so that the new file formats can be used by older
products. However, there are still a lot of people out there who use Word
2003 or earlier and who haven't installed the pack. So if you frequently
exchange files with people using Word 2003 or earlier, you might want to
consider saving your documents in the old ".doc" format. If not, ".docx" is
the way to go.

Yves
 
R

Robert Macy

It's a new file format. ".docx" files are basically zip archives (you can
change .docx to .zip and open the files in Windows) containing a bunch of
xml files.

The advantage of the ".docx" format is that it implements the 'open xml'
standard (both ECMA and ISO certified). This is important as governments
world wide are starting to ask for open standards for documents. The new
format also has some advantages for programmers: they make it much easierto
create and manipulate Office documents without user interaction. Also, as
".docx" files are actually zip archives, they tend to require less disk
space.

As it is a new format, older versions of Word are not automatically capable
of handling the newer files. To solve this issue, Microsoft released a
compatibility pack so that the new file formats can be used by older
products. However, there are still a lot of people out there who use Word
2003 or earlier and who haven't installed the pack. So if you frequently
exchange files with people using Word 2003 or earlier, you might want to
consider saving your documents in the old ".doc" format. If not, ".docx" is
the way to go.

Yves
Click to expand...

this works also:

Program Name: NW Docx File Converter (Docx2Rtf)
Author: Jack Lewis - NativeWinds
Creation: 2007-10-03
Updated: 2009-06-04
Version: 3.8 Freeware

Description: A program to convert Word 2007 Docx and Dotx,
OpenOffice Sxw and Odt files
to the universal rtf format without needing MS Office
2007 or OpenOffice
installed. Docx2Rtf can also open, view and print -
pdf, html, rtf, txt files and now
even PalmOS Database Documents (*.pdb) and Aportis
(*.prc) files are supported.


and google provides free conversion for docx to doc and xlsx to xls
files
 
S

sheana

Can you tell me what I have to do to have Google provide file conversion for
..docx to .doc? Or does it do this automatically? Thanks in advance.
 
R

Robert Macy

Can you tell me what I have to do to have Google provide file conversion for
.docx to .doc?  Or does it do this automatically? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

here is an online service
http://www.docx2doc.com/convert/docx-to-doc

I can't find the google URL where I did several conversions.

Looked everywhere, too, even did a search for online coverters using
google and no reference to google came up.
 
J

Jeff

It's a new file format. ".docx" files are basically zip archives (you
can change .docx to .zip and open the files in Windows) containing a
bunch of xml files.

The advantage of the ".docx" format is that it implements the 'open xml'
standard (both ECMA and ISO certified). This is important as governments
world wide are starting to ask for open standards for documents. The new
format also has some advantages for programmers: they make it much
easier to create and manipulate Office documents without user
interaction. Also, as ".docx" files are actually zip archives, they tend
to require less disk space.

As it is a new format, older versions of Word are not automatically
capable of handling the newer files. To solve this issue, Microsoft
released a compatibility pack so that the new file formats can be used
by older products. However, there are still a lot of people out there
who use Word 2003 or earlier and who haven't installed the pack. So if
you frequently exchange files with people using Word 2003 or earlier,
you might want to consider saving your documents in the old ".doc"
format. If not, ".docx" is the way to go.

Yves
Click to expand...
Although I have not yet encountered the problem (my Word 2007 is too
new) I have read that the Doc form (Word 97-2003) created by Word 2007
is not a pure Word 97-2003 doc and sometimes can still not be opened by
an earlier Word. The recommended work-around has suggested is to save as
rtf in those cases. Has there been a solution for this?
Jeff
 
G

Graham Mayor

Although I have not yet encountered the problem (my Word 2007 is too new)
I have read that the Doc form (Word 97-2003) created by Word 2007 is not a
pure Word 97-2003 doc and sometimes can still not be opened by an earlier
Word. The recommended work-around has suggested is to save as rtf in those
cases. Has there been a solution for this?
Jeff
Click to expand...

The problem you describe is probably that at
http://www.gmayor.com/Problems_opening_2007_docs.htm

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
 
G

Graham Mayor

I have not yet come across it but yes that sounds like what I heard.
Sounds like it would be a problem.
Click to expand...

The web page shows how to address it.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
 
J

Jeff

The problem you describe is probably that at
http://www.gmayor.com/Problems_opening_2007_docs.htm
Click to expand...
Now that I think further about it, I believe what I heard is not about
opening Docx files in earlier Word versions, but in opening files saved
as "Word 95-2003 files" (by Word 2007) having trouble in earlier Word
versions. It seems that these Word 95-2003 doc files produced by Word
2007 still contain some xml code that can cause problems.

As I said I have not encountered the problem myself but am concerned and
trying to avoid problems since I send a lot of Word files to various
people who do not have Word 2007 and am trying to figure out the best
way to do it.

Jeff
 
G

Graham Mayor

There is no XML code saved with the document. What is saved is a reference
to the document template. If the document template is 'Normal' then there
should not be an issue. If the document template is a Word 2007 format
template other than normal, then you will see the issue described in the
link. The answer is to either base your shared documents on the normal
template or on a DOT format template.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
 

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