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Thread ID: 72512 2006-09-15 11:00:00 Apple Works 6 wp file compatibility Billy T (70) Press F1
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484978 2006-09-15 11:00:00 Hi Team

I have a colleague who uses a Mac, as well as being not very computer literate . . . . . . um, well, not literate at all actually . From time to time I have sent him documents and simply assumed that they were received ok, but to my surprise I have belatedly found that he has been unable to read any of them at all .

Out of deference to the Mac, I didn't send * . doc files but converted to file types that I thought were more universal and hopefully cross-format capable, but he is apparently unable to read rtf files, or even txt files, the latter being a particular surprise to me .

A quick Google search found This site ( . info . apple . com/article . html?artnum=25302" target="_blank">docs . info . apple . com) which says that Apple Works 6 can read txt & rtf "Through XTND Filters" and MS Word 2000 docs can be read "Through MacLink Plus Translators" .

My question is this: Are these filters included with Apple Works 6 or do they have to be obtained separately and be installed before use?

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
484979 2006-09-15 11:27:00 If he saves the .doc file to the desktop and double clicks on it it will open in TextEdit assuming he is using Mac OS X
AppleWorks will not open word files.

There are other word processors such as Neooffice neooffice.org/ and Abiword http: that he can download and install which will open word files.

MacLink is good but you have to pay for it.
Safari (3993)
484980 2006-09-15 11:56:00 Thanks Safari, but downloading and installing anything is simply out of his reach . The computer is 2-3 years old so I don't know what OS it has, and if I asked him, he wouldn't even know what an OS was . It is very difficult to even get him to discuss the issue .

I already know that AppleWorks 6 won't open Word docs, but what about opening txt & rtf files "through XTND Filters" per the weblink I posted? Do you have to buy those too?

The more I hear, the less I like Macs!

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
484981 2006-09-15 12:06:00 AppleWorks is very old (other than minor bug fixes, there have been no major changes since 2000). You might want to suggest he updates to iWork '06 which replaces AppleWorks (other than the spreadsheet application) and will open pretty much all file formats, including MS Office documents and presentations. I think AppleWorks 6 might have included some MacLink Plus translators - they will automatically convert the document when opened in AppleWorks if they are there. I personally wouldn't persevere with such old software when you can get more recent software that will work out of the box, especially if he isn't very technology literate.

Plain text files and rich text files should open fine in TextEdit which is a basic text editor included in Mac OS X.

You can find full details on Appleworks here (www.apple.com) and details on iWork here (www.apple.com). :)

Edit: I see you posted while I was typing mine out. He will most likely be using Mac OS X 10.3. :)
maccrazy (6741)
484982 2006-09-15 12:14:00 When AppleWorks 6 was released in March, 2000, it was an OS 8/9 application only & the only "foreign" translators, as far as I can recall, were plain text & RTF. Word & Excel translators were added with the AppleWorks 6.1 updater. With AppleWorks 6.2, OS X support (& an OS X installer) was added. I believe the different dates is partly explained by this history. It would not be unusual for any translators to be updated with an update, & there have been several since 6.2. 6.2.2 came out some time near the end of 2001. 6.2.4 in April, 02; 6.2.7 in 2003 & the last, 6.2.9 in January, 2004.

The above was cut and pasted from the apple support forum. You could always send the documents as a pdf.
what no native pdf support in MS office... the more I hear, the less I like windows:rolleyes:
plod (107)
484983 2006-09-15 23:14:00 Thanks for that.

This guy has serious problems finding the ON button, so there's sub-zero chance of him upgrading or doing anything of that nature. He wants files faxed or PDF'd but I see no advantage whatsoever in buying a PDF writer just to keep the Ark afloat. I don't need to do anything other than read PDFs.

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
484984 2006-09-15 23:21:00 As mentioned TextEdit is part of OS X and will open .doc files.
It is not perfect but if he does not want to download and install anything it will suffice.
Safari (3993)
484985 2006-09-15 23:26:00 There are plenty of PDF converters that will convert your .doc to a PDF file available for free. They are installed like a printer and you just go print and select that "printer" and they generate a PDF file. Do a search of the forum for recommendations as some free ones put a small mention about themselves in the document while others do not. :)

Edit: This is the one I use at work for creating PDF's - PDF995 (http://www.pdf995.com/). You get to see a sponsorship ad open up in the broswer when it runs, but it does not put any advertising in the actual document.
Jen (38)
484986 2006-09-16 00:11:00 appleworks is a dog, I personally don't know anyone with a mac that uses it. Me personally use MS office at work or openoffice at home plod (107)
484987 2006-09-16 00:34:00 openoffice for windows will save as a pdf plod (107)
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