Microsoft Word 2007 Creates Business Roadblocks

I saved a document in Microsoft Word the other day, and sent it to a client who uses the program. He was unable to open it, because the 2007 version of Word defaults to saving files with the .docx format, which cannot be read by earlier versions of the software without a converter. This is apparently Microsoft's idea of backwards compatible software.

Disclosure: I've never been a huge fan of Microsoft Word, because most Microsoft products bend so far over backwards trying to make things look pretty that they forget to make it easy to just perform core tasks - for example, writing. I prefer Open Office, because the software is easy to understand and use. It's also free.

I keep Word available because sometimes heavily-formatted documents don't translate well into other programs. I don't know if Microsoft does that to try to keep a lock on the software market or if it's a side effect of their business model of adding bells and whistles instead of simple, clear commands; whatever the reason, there are times when just converting a file into the .doc format in Open Office isn't enough. A first glance at the documentation for Office 2007 suggests that Microsoft has seen the light and is ready to be compatible with the rest of the open-source world.

Office Open XML File Formats
How exciting! Open formats must be good, right? Well . . . not exactly. They might use the word "open" but the MS use of the word seems to be, "open the door to more people buying new versions of Microsoft products." Office Open XML files are not:

• Open source
• Openable by earlier versions of the same software without a converter
• Convertable in both directions - once a .docx file is converted to a .doc, it will be again rendered unreadable if it's open and saved in the newest version again
• Obviously incompatible - Word 2007 defaults to saving in the .docx format and doesn't indicate that users of earlier versions will need a converter to open them.

I'm getting more and more clients that are sending me .docx files, and no doubt they are unaware of how other Microsoft users can't open them easily. I thought "backwards compatible" meant the files could be opened in earlier versions of the same software, and I think most people would prefer that. Do you want to spend your days tracking down converters and patches for your software, or would you prefer to be able to do productive work?

I prefer not spending a lot of time thinking about my software, which is why I like Open Office so much. I doubt it's just writers and scientists that sometimes feel Microsoft hate us by forcing extra steps into our already-busy days; and I'm hoping that frustrations with Office 2007 will lead to more people adopting free, easy-to-understand word processing software.

Thanks, Microsoft!