Re: [WinMac] cross-platform and MS Word

Lesley Vita(lesley.vita[at]ntu.edu.au)
Wed, 22 Sep 1999 13:24:31 +0930

Hi Kittrell,

I don't know what's causing your "out of memory" messages, but when
using different versions of word, EVEN ON THE SAME PLATFORM, bear in
mind that what microsoft says about backwards compatibility is not
strictly true. The formatting codes used in word 5.1 don't
necessarily do the same thing in word 98 and this can cause some
strange results when you open a word 5.1 doc in word 98. Formatting,
paper sizes, etc can be very different.

Despite the supposed compatibility between mac word 98 and pc word
97, problems are even worse in cross platform situations. I've found
that the best thing to do is to keep the formatting as simple as
possible, and to use few fonts. And always check the paper size: for
some reason, A4 5.1 docs opened in 98 revert to US letter small. I've
found a work around for this, but it's a nuisance nonetheless. Fonts
have always been a problem in cross platform situations but, beyond
trying to ensure that the same fonts from the same sources are on
both platforms, or having the fonts resident on your postscript
printer, I don't know what you can do about that

At 2:44 PM -0500 18/9/99, KR wrote:ç
>----------------------
>From: Kittrell Rushing, UT Chattanooga <krushing@cecasun.utc.edu>
>----------------------
>
>I'm having a very perplexing problem -- one I have not seen before,
>and, perhaps, someone on the list might be able to share with me
>(and with the list) what's going on.
>
>Here's the problem:
>
>I teach a course entitled "Computer Skills for Communication
>Majors." We use a Mac lab that contains a combination of Mac
>platforms and software -- most of the computers are G-3 Macs with
>both Microsoft Office 98 and Microsoft Word 5.1 loaded.
>
>Many of my students have Windows computers at home or in their
>dorms... I've always told my young people that it really makes
>little difference in word processing if they have a pc or a Mac as
>far as document compatibility is concerned because MSWord will open
>documents created on either the Windows or the Mac platform -- and
>I've told the young people that if they have a pc rather than a Mac
>they can use the pc formatted disk in the Mac... and save to the pc
>formatted disk from either Microsoft Word 5.1 or Microsoft Word98.
>...and until this week, I experienced nothing that made me doubt
>what I've been preaching.

Regards,

Lesley Vita

  rfc 1925: "With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine."
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