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Easily Open .docx On A Mac
eightysevenfour.com — Microsoft's new Office version introduces a new ".docx" file, which is unreadable by Macs at the moment. Since .docx is starting to pop up as Office 2007 gains users, this simple guide will help you open the dreaded .docx on a Mac.
northerncomfort- 709 diggs
- digg it
- drthipp, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9this is going to be very helpful in a few weeks. thanks.
- crimoid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Perhaps getting the text out is helpful but I wouldn't really call this "opening" the new file type. I'd say it is more of "stripping out the text" than anything.
- stoppedcode12, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This method should work with unencrypted documents, but it won't work for encrypted documents. Just keep that in mind.
- klawz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4this guy --> http://joeanderson.co.uk/blog/2006/01/26/dismantling-a-docx/
needed this fix about a year ago, seems to be almost the same steps too!
Or if you're on a non-mac platform, you can get the ulitiy pack from MS: http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/converter.mspx - klawz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2actually there is a new version of the utility pack to convert office 2007 file formats(sorry for not checking before posting above):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en - DijitalJB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2anyone who knows anything about XML will know that someone out there will use the schemas (which have been available for a long time on the Microsoft website) to develop a basic XSL to perform at XSL translation on the .xml files in the .docx (which is a .zip as mentioned previously) to transform the XML into XHTML, n'est pas?
granted that won't give you any embedded objects but it's a start, and Office XML format standards are available to view on the web...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_Open_XML - cgohier, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@Klawz
Actualy, those utilities are for Windows only, for now... - kman004, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I don't know why this is such a big deal. If you know an office file will be used in a mac or on a pre office 2007 pc, you can just tell office 2007 to save the file in the non x format. I think we're all smart enough to know for the first few months that this should be done before it becomes standard. No?
- Scorp888, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's easy, tell the save it in a format everyone can use.
Less than 1% of the world is going to be able to open a .poxy file.
So just tell them to .rtf it...
Easy job done.
- psykr, on 10/12/2007, -38/+11This is stupid. There are a myriad of ways you can open OpenXML files:
1. Grab Office 2007 and install it with Parallels.
2. Install the OpenXML extensions on Office for Mac 2004, which will let it read/write in the new format.
3. Download an Office 2007 file viewer.
4. Just don't use any of the new formats, save in 2003-compatible formats from Office 2007.- northerncomfort, on 10/12/2007, -4/+34Sorry that you found it stupid, psykr.
1- Parallels is Intel-only, which many people don't have.
2- Some people don't get Office for Mac, and instead rely on other apps to read/save in .doc.
3- Microsoft has yet to create one, although it is in progress.
4- Usually you're not the person who saved it when you're having trouble opening it. - mentat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28OOH! OOH! I KNOW! PICK ME! PICK ME! PICK ME PICKMEEEEEEE!
Because those solutions aren't free? - GraceMolloy, on 10/12/2007, -19/+7They're only Not Free if you don't know how to make them so.
- northerncomfort, on 10/12/2007, -4/+34Sorry that you found it stupid, psykr.
- ckr4282, on 10/12/2007, -20/+2..or run Office 2007 via CrossOver, Parallels, Boot Camp, or Fusion.
- JeffH, on 10/12/2007, -8/+11Parallels costs money. Windows costs money. Office 2007 costs money, see the problem here? That's about $450 worth of software just to OPEN Office 2007 documents. $400 if you use boot-camp. If someone already has Office for Mac, this is a free and relatively easy way to open the files.
- mentat, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2Uhh, belongs in Software... or something. I mean, this isn't specifically Apple news. this applies to things like Google Docs & Spreadsheets and OpenOffice as well!
- kwilliam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I was in a similar situation last week. I use Linux, and received a .docx attachment in an email. I had to unzip the file and read the raw xml in a text-editor. (Darn Office2007 Beta Testers!) Not much fun. I hope OpenOffice gets support for DOCX soon.
- stmiller, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1^
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/75815/index.html
Your wish is granted. Though you might have to purchase a SLED desktop from Novell to get it. It would be very interesting if another free plugin was developed apart from this for other openoffice users out there. - Stonekeeper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'd have just sent the doc back to them and told them i couldn't open it. There are plenty of decent file formats they can export to.
- chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16it's an XML file in a ZIP folder.
if you can't work it out press the power button and go to bed. your work here is done. - BananaWind, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4why is this file dreaded? "It's the "future of gaming"
-obscure Grandma's Boy quote - Ademan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Or just use ODF since it's now an ISO standard... Yes microsoft pissed all over the format, but that SHOULD change since ISO is, well, ISO.
- cosequin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The great thing about standards is that there are so many different ones.
- cosequin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The great thing about standards is that there are so many different ones.
- WarPirate, on 10/12/2007, -26/+2The real easy way....
Install XP on your MacIntel or just buy a PC next time.
Digg me down in
3..
2..
1...
Gone- WarPirate, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1IS Mac Office 2007 available?
Not yet right....Yet being the key word.
So if it will be available then quit freaking out.
All of you!! There is no reason for this to be on the frontpage again. - cubbieco, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9@WarPirate
Believe it or not some of us may actually have to deal with these stupid files before mac office 2007 comes out late next year.
It doesn't matter what will be available or what you might be able to do in a few months if you get one of these files now its nice to know what to do about it.
Please don't post again until you've been in the real world for a while.
- WarPirate, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1IS Mac Office 2007 available?
- riverrunner, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Well this is a start - but he was right about the blank stares which also applies to telling the average mac user to use PHP.
- dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3A Perl or Python script, that someone could save, and drag their document on would make more sense (Sicne both Perl/Python are installed on OS X by default).
PHP seems a little.. random.. for such a task
- Ben
- dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3A Perl or Python script, that someone could save, and drag their document on would make more sense (Sicne both Perl/Python are installed on OS X by default).
- digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Of course Ms did this before creating a mac 2007 office, so you will buy vista and office, and run it with bootcamp, so they can make some extra $$$$$$
- kwilliam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Based on the initial lack of enthusiasm for upgrading to Vista, I think Microsoft will only be making $$$, not $$$$$$.
;-) - thespace, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I think they did it because they needed to and don't really give a ***** about Apple anymore?
- stmiller, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah listen to Steve Gibson on Security Now #66, for his thoughts on Vista. Heh.
- gagravaar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1thespace: "I think they did it because they needed to and don't really give a ***** about Apple anymore?"
Yeah, great idea, piss on the only set of users that actually make Microsoft a profit. (Mac BU is the only department at Microsoft to actually turn a profit in recent years).
But then again, Microsoft isn't about making money is it? (XBox, Zune etc). Glad I'm a shareholder in Apple and not Microsoft.
- kwilliam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Based on the initial lack of enthusiasm for upgrading to Vista, I think Microsoft will only be making $$$, not $$$$$$.
- mistercharlie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Thank you - bookmarked it for a later date.
- thespace, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17Step 1. Pick up phone
Step 2. Dial the wanker that sent you this crap
Step 3. Once the wanker is on the phone, proceed to badger the wanker for tech support no matter how clueless the wanker is ... just for the total ***** of it. Don't let them try to pass you off to I.T.
Step 4. Laugh at the silly php workaround floating on Digg! Silly silly noobs.- seventoes, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3Crazy british people...
- thespace, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2beh
- ascheinberg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Here, download a DOCX file and try for yourself:
http://osnews.com/story.php/12743/Microsoft-to-Standardize-Office-Formats- rubberbandage, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The XPS file in this example contains SegoeUI, Cambria, and the bold and plain typefaces of Calibri, which I installed without any problem in OS X – isn't that an exceptionally bad licensing violation? Given that it appears to only include the specific typefaces referenced (i.e. only the bold face for Cambria) and also renames them font_0.ttf, font_1.ttf, etc., this is essentially modifying and re-distributing those fonts without permission from the copyright holder, in every file you send.
And yes I know, the copyright holder in this case is Microsoft, but still…
- rubberbandage, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The XPS file in this example contains SegoeUI, Cambria, and the bold and plain typefaces of Calibri, which I installed without any problem in OS X – isn't that an exceptionally bad licensing violation? Given that it appears to only include the specific typefaces referenced (i.e. only the bold face for Cambria) and also renames them font_0.ttf, font_1.ttf, etc., this is essentially modifying and re-distributing those fonts without permission from the copyright holder, in every file you send.
- stoppedcode12, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5This method works for people who don't have office on windows too.
- MySchizoBuddy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8really horrible way to open .docx files. It’s not just the text you want its also the formatting of it. the best way is to tell ur colleague not to use .docx and save it in the old .doc file format.
- rubberbandage, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1didn't reply correctly - digg down in scorn…
- badtz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Are there any cons to using .ODF? Seems like that would solve all of these problems. Unfortunately, people don't know any better and stick with the default.
- EntropyFan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3No, nor are there any cons to (currently) using the Office03 format. Just go Save As in Word 07. Or you (the Office07 owner) can get a free download and save it as a PDF.
I don't understand the desire to make things more complex then they are. ODF? WTF? Why make things so difficult.
You can also set all Office apps (maybe not Access) to save, by default, in older Office formats. - ascheinberg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2There are some, according to Microsoft and independently verified by many others.
If you save a file as an ODF, even though it's interpreted by standard, there are still some minor differences. KOffice and OpenOffice exhibit these differences. This, it's said, is why Microsoft wanted to use their own XML - because ODF was not specific enough. - Trevahaha, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@EntropyFan -
Actually DOC doesn't compress as well as DOCX with large documents or especially documents with embedded images. I've noticed almost about a 60-70% increase in compression between the two formats! Plus there are certain new features in Office 2007 that aren't supported in being in the older format, thus O2007 when saving in the old format runs in "Compatibility Mode" and does not allow you to use those features.
- EntropyFan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3No, nor are there any cons to (currently) using the Office03 format. Just go Save As in Word 07. Or you (the Office07 owner) can get a free download and save it as a PDF.
- atomic16, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Where do I do the php code?
I tried text edit and stuff?
can someone use this to write an online tool where your text gets inserted for you, wouldn't that be really easy for a php programmer? please correct me if I am wrong - DocDEB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Simpler still. Change .docx to .zip. Unzip it. Go to Safari and File>Open File... Navigate to the /insert_name_of_Word_file_here/word/document.xml and open. Read text.
- atomic16, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1its not that simple, the text is split up by code
- DocDEB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That's interesting. Using the sample Word file from the link posted buy ascheinberg above both Safari and Opera display just the text without the xml tags.FireFox complains that there is no style information and shows a nicely formated xml document tree. Go figure. I'm looking at all three as I type this.
- bieber, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Better idea. Why don't we all refuse to use proprietary formats?
- klawz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is a new open standard. Hopefully MS won't be like Adobe and their PDF, which is also technically an Open standard, and prohibit others from using it.
- dr.unclear, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Don't get me wrong here, I admire what Apple has done with OS X and I look forward to purchasing it the next time I'm due for a new computer.
But there is something I don't quite understand: why doesn't Apple spend cycles building a replacement suite for MS's Office 2004 for Mac? It would need to be better than OpenOffice, as most OO users seem not to be content with it's limitations. And of course, it would need to play nice with MS Office doc formats... all of them.
From a strategic point of view, this would really put MS on its heels and remove any cloud of dependence on MS to produce a Mac Office 2007 edition. Yes, I understand most apple fanatics get by without office, but I'm referring to the mainstream business users who are inextricably tied to MS Office due to the proprietary nature of their formatting.
My point is that I see an incredible amount of high quality products emerging from Apple, almost weekly it seems; I just hope they have a native Office suite in the works to satisfy the general business community if they plan on expanding their adoption beyond us geeks.
Thoughts?- bedouin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"But there is something I don't quite understand: why doesn't Apple spend cycles building a replacement suite for MS's Office 2004 for Mac?"
What do you think iWork is? It's not up to Office's level yet, but they're probably building something up for when MS finally throws in the towel. And if they did announce they were working on a product, or announced that iWork would morph into said product, MS would likely do what they did with IE for Mac -- kill it prematurely out of laziness to compete with something better (Safari).
- bedouin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"But there is something I don't quite understand: why doesn't Apple spend cycles building a replacement suite for MS's Office 2004 for Mac?"
- inkhead, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I'm using Office 2007 just fine on my MacBook Pro. I just use Parallels, and hit cohency mode which makes office run in a window, just like it was running inside of OS X. Works perfectly. Absolutely fantastic. It's Office 2007 for my Mac Now, instead of later :-)
- deedas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thank you! Earlier today I was wondering how I was gonna deal with the new files.
*hands a chocolate chip cookie to northerncomfort* - ThankTheCheese, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Is this only as issue for Mac versions of office, or will older versions of office for Windows have the same problems?
- aloser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I wrote a script that automates the steps:
http://www.digg.com/apple/Automatic_docx_to_Text_Converter
Should also help you guys if you're not on your home computer or the appropriate tools. - bedouin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Didn't MS announce they were going to release a plugin to allow Word 2004 to handle the new format? How many months will it take them to live up to their promise this time?
- oepapel, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I don't see why people are calling this format "dreaded".
I see 3 free solutions (2 that are cross platform).
1) The docx file format specification is freely available for anyone to implement on any platform.
2) If you don't want to write code, create an xslt file (or download one, they will be widely available soon) and transform the contents into whatever you want (also platform agnostic)
3) get .NET 3.0 (freely available) and it has built in support libraries to allow the casual hacker to put together a viewer in about a day and a half. Admittedly, you need to be running windows for this one.
Considering the fact that Office 2007 isn't even released to the public for another 2 months, I think it's really cheesy complaining about lack of support. By the time it comes out at the end of Jan, there will be many more solutions than the ones I've given.
btw, I found all this info out in about 5 minutes with Google. Google is your friend.
- djauto23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0As far as I've read, Novell has submitted code for opening "Open XML", as M$ calls it, into OpenOffice.
Now, wouldn't mac users then be able to open those docs, using OpenOffice through X11? Not as good as using Neooffice, of course, but I guess those changes will be hitting Neooffice too pretty soon.
Am I wrong here? Is OpenXML != .docx? - dAbReAkA, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1why does it say "easily open it on a mac"?
it's the same for all OSs.. it works the same under windows, it works the same under linux..
useful information but provided in a lame way.. marked as (mac) spam..- zakatov, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1because "easily open it on a PC" means using the latest version of office...
- cannan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0today Panergy-software released docXConverter for MAC OS X, which convert docx to rtf with almost no visible difference, take a look at the screenshots (which I did by myself by the way). the demo is good for 20 conversions after that you have to buy it.
you can download the trial for docXConverter from here:
http://www.panergy-software.com/buy/download.html - tgelston, on 11/12/2007, -0/+1I know this is OLD but if anyone stumbles across this post and comments I want you to know that there is now a FREE version from MS that will do the conversion for you. You don't need to pay anyone anything.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=do ...
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