As it turns out, Word can open many kinds of older Word documents—but only if you make a few changes. (Out of the box, Word refuses to open document types that could contain viruses.) ...

It is possible to open old Word documents such as Word 2003, Word 2007, Word 97, etc., documents in the latest version of Word in the Protected View.

Convert old Word document into latest Word format The previous editions of Microsoft Word used .doc file format to save the documents as the default file format.

Familiar file extensions, including the .doc Word default, sprouted an "x" at the end, and users who still relied on earlier Office versions discovered they no longer could open files created in ...

Have old Microsoft Word or AppleWorks spreadsheet, word processing, presentation, or draw documents that won't open under Lion? Ted Landau offers some advice.

But the format is also very old—its basic structure has remained mostly unchanged for the past two decades. Beginning with Office 2007, Microsoft unveiled a new file format, called Open XML.

Want to collaborate with PC-based colleagues? Here's how to open and edit those pesky .docx Word files on your Mac, iPad or iPhone, and how to save and export them in a PC-friendly format ...

Updating the styling in old documents can be as easy as opening the file in the right Microsoft Word template.