Hi Trebor:
This is all to do with the way you get the files back to the PC.
The Word X file format on the Mac is identical to the Word 97/2000/2002/2003
formats on the PC. Not just "compatible", "identical".
However, many Mac email programs compress the attachments in a message going
out. That compression is Stuffit compression. PCs cannot read Stuffit
compression unless they have Stuffit Expander installed. If you can install
programs at work, search the web for Stuffit Expander, download it (it's
free) and install it.
Another problem you may be having is that by default, a Mac email program
does not necessarily send in a file format the PC can read. It should be
sending in MIME or AppleDouble or UUEncode format. If it is sending in Bin
Hex, the PC cannot read that, it's a Mac-only format. Look in your Mac
mailer's Help file for instructions on how to set the "Encoding" or
"Attachment encoding" or "Mail Format". These days, it's best to set that
to MIME (Multipart Internet Mail Extensions) which can be handled by any
known computer.
A final problem is that Mac does not add the file extension to the file name
by default. You have to tell it to do so. PCs have not "required" file
extensions for years, but some mail programs do. Without the file
extension, Windows has to open the file to see which program to send it to.
But if you double-click the file inside your email program, some older mail
programs may not know to send the file to Windows for processing, and just
do nothing.
If you save the file to your hard disk, and then use File>Open from the menu
inside Microsoft Word, chances are that file will open right up for you.
While you're at it, you might as well teach Windows to recognise files of
this type forevermore. In Windows File Explorer (the yellow icon, not the
blue one) or in My Computer, choose the file, hold down Control and
right-click. In the context menu, choose Open With, choose Microsoft Word,
and check "Always use this program".
You can set your Mac email program to automatically add extensions to
attachments, and you can set it to No Compression. Look in the email
program's help file for specific instructions on how to do this.
Hope this helps
This responds to article
from "trebor" said:
I am new to mac. I can open files from my other pc's which have office 97
files but when I make changes on office v.X and save back to pc's I cannot
open the files???
Hopefully, their is a simple fix but I am lost!!
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John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:
[email protected]