Microsoft KB Archive/114798

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{| The information in this article applies to:
 * width="100%"|
 * Microsoft Word for Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.1, 5.1a, 6.0, 6.0.1
 * Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
 * Microsoft Word for Windows NT, version 6.0
 * Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a

SUMMARY
The information in this article is taken from the Word 6.0 Conversion Information document that is included with the Word 6.0 Converter Kit.

Word 6.0 reads Microsoft Word 4.x-5.x for Macintosh file format directly. This article discusses problems or limitations that may arise when converting Word 6.0 for Windows, Macintosh, or NT documents into Word 5.x format by reading the Word 6.0 document into Word 5.x for Macintosh using the converter supplied with the Word 6.0 Converter Kit (for Word 5.x for the Macintosh users).

Features that are converted completely are not listed. Only features that are not converted, are not supported in one product or the other, or require some comment are included. "Yes" means the feature or property is converted to Word for the Macintosh. "No" means the feature or property is not converted to Word for the Macintosh. "N/S" means the feature or property is not supported in Word for the Macintosh but may be emulated if possible.

NOTE: In order for Word for the Macintosh to correctly convert graphics, you must have the Windows Metafile Converter installed on your machine. This file shipped with Word 5.x for Macintosh and is installed by default in your Word Commands folder. If this file is not present, please reinstall it from your original Word disks.

Word 6.0 to Feature                  Word 5.x      Comments Character Formatting:

Expand/Condense        Yes           Word 6.0 supports finer control over this. The value is rounded to                                       the closest value Word 5.x                                        supports.

Superscript/Subscript  N/S           Word 6.0 uses a new method for super/subscript. This is converted to raised/lowered characters, which is equivalent to Word 5.x                                       super/subscript.

Kerning                N/S Paragraph Formatting: Borders, shading       See comment   Word 6.0 has more borders and shading options than Word 5.x. Word 6.0 borders are mapped to the closest approximation in Word 5.x. Columns: Line Between Columns   N/S

Variable-width         N/S           Variable-width columns are mapped Columns                              to equal-width columns in Word 5.x. Section Formatting: Line numbering         N/S (Start At #)

Vertical alignment     N/S (top, centered, justified) Other Features: Annotations            See comment   Text annotations are retained when converting to Word version 5.1 for the Macintosh; otherwise, annotations are not supported. Voice annotations are never converted.

Bookmarks &            N/S References

Bullets/Numbering      Yes           Automatic bullets and numbers are converted to normal text.

Cell borders, shading  See comment   Word 6.0 has more borders and shading options than Word 5.x. Word 6.0 borders are mapped to the closest approximation in Word 5.x.

Character Styles       No            Character style definitions are lost. All style formatting is                                       retained as direct formatting.

Drawing Layer          No            All drawn objects are lost.

Endnotes               Yes           All footnotes and endnotes are retained, but they are merged into one sequentially numbered set of                                       notes. The resulting location is                                       dependent on the type of notes found.

Extended Characters    See comment   Some ANSI extended characters have no Macintosh character set equivalent, and vice versa. If the equivalent character is not available, it is replaced by the underscore (_) character. Equivalent characters available in                                       fonts such as Symbol or Wingdings can be used to replace lost characters following conversion. Characters available in the unique symbol sets of Microsoft TrueType fonts are retained, provided that the same font is available on both platforms.

Fields                 N/S           Word 5.x does not support fields. Field results are retained, and where possible, fields are converted to equivalent Word 5.x                                       glossary entries.

Form Fields            See comment   Results of text fields are displayed. Other form fields and bar code fields have no result to                                       display.

Language               N/S

Mail Merge             See comment   When opening Word 6.0 documents in                                        Word 5.x, mail merge documents (main documents, header sources,                                       and data sources) lose their association with each other. This association can be restored by                                       running Print Merge again.

Master Documents       No            Master documents lose the contents and association with the subdocuments. Subdocuments are automatically converted into separate files if you save as Word 5.x. from Word 6.0. Reading in                                       Word 6.0 files will only convert the master document; subdocuments must be read in separately.

Object Linking and     No            The last result of an object or  Embedding                             link is retained as either a                                        picture or text, but the object or                                        link itself is lost.

Orientation            See comment   Portrait orientation is retained, but Landscape orientation reverts to portrait.

Page Numbering         See comment   Word 6.0 has more page numbering options than Word 5.x. These are mapped to the closest alternative in Word 5.x

Revision marks         N/S           Word 5.x does not support revision marks. Character formatting indicating revised text is                                       retained.

Styles                 See comment   Word for the Macintosh allows only 255 defined styles. Style definitions numbered greater than that are omitted, along with any references to them. All formatting is preserved, however.
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Last reviewed: February 2, 1998

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