Question re emailing different versions of Word

[C Tate]

I have heard that it if a document has been created in Word using a machine
with the XP operating system, that the document could not be opened by
someone using, say, Windows 98 if it was emailed to them. Is this true or
just a old wive's tale?

 

[Jay Freedman]

Total baloney. The version of the operating system has nothing to do with
it.

What you probably will see is that the page breaks are in slightly
(sometimes not so slightly!) different places. This is because machines with
different OS versions usually have different printer drivers, even if
they're only different versions of drivers for the same printer. See
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Formatting/TextReflow.htm for an explanation.

There can also be some problems between different versions of Word if you
use features that are only in the later version. There are settings in the
Tools > Options > Save and Tools > Options > Compatibility tabs that can
minimize these problems. To repeat, this has nothing to do with the Windows
versions.