Emphasis aside (and I don’t really know where you were going with that anyway), the statement doesn’t make sense. ALL softwares open files created by previous versions of themselves.

with EmPHAsis on the proPER word in accordance with incredulity and disgust.

The short answer would be “Yes, and No.”

As a desktop publisher and graphic designer, I naturally would make sure I installed the necessary add-ons to my own personal workstations. Bear in mind, not very many applications actually had such add-ons available to open the latest version with the previous one you’re still using. Microsoft was usually the one doing that for the Office and Works packages – All other companies didn’t even bother, maybe with the exception of a few Corel cases (although, CorelDraw was always the one that opened virtually every other format anyway).

I have, however, quite often opened Word documents created with a current version, using an earlier version with no add-ons, and no problems.

But, this is all talking about opening a LATER version with an EARLIER version.
Naturally, that scenario SHOULD have some snags.
What I couldn’t figure out was Henry’s remark about software that “can’t open a file created with a PREVIOUS version of itself”.

Henry?

I am with Henry all the way on this one. Had a bit of an annoyance when working as a personal assistant for a guy who didn’t have the same office version as I and many hours were wasted trying to get two versions of Word or Access to talk to each other. PITA!

Personally, I always felt Word was a rip-off of Appleworks (my first home computer was a green screen IIc). I remember when the PC wp offering was WordPerfect which required a cheat sheet glued to the keyboard just to remember the commands for “open,” “save,” or “print” (vs. the intuitively obvious “open-apple”+”O,” “S,” or “P” in Appleworks); IMHO Word took a step back in that direction with the ‘07 interface anyway – navigating the menus was totally counter-intuitive and I always spent 10 minutes hunting for basic shit; I find that I have no use for most of the new features anyway and find most of the stuff after XP unusable.

I’m not sure where you’re going here, Henry.

There’s only 1 example I can think of where a software CAN’T open documents created by a previous version – that being Quark not opening a document 2 versions behind. Everything else I’ve ever used (including Word) opens files from pretty well all previous versions. (And I’ve used everything.)

I’ve even opened many current Word version files using previous versions, often with no complaints from the software.

Bitch, please: For one thing, Openoffice.org can actually open WORD documents that Word itself.
Plus, it works with more document types.
Plus, the price is right. (You’d think a proprietary-software/microsoft troll would be familiar with their “how can you compete with free” slogan, but feh.

Okay, I’ll be nice — but then again, I DO only smash the trolls.

For once this is not just an act of patent trolling – i4i are a document management and publishing solutions company and actually use the technology in their products and have done so for nearly a decade!

“Well since MS word is illegal and infringes someone else patent, I think the right thing for MS to do is refund everyone’s money.”

NOOOO! You got it all wrong: Microsoft must “kindle” now.
That is: Remotely Delete all the documents that were produced with this infringing piece of software from the users computers. Americans be aware what happends on the next “patch day”!
After all, Microsofts Media Player has this obscure provision in its eula that they have the right to shut down certain functions of it when intellectual property rights holders demand that from them, maybe the word eula has some innocently looking short sentence in it that can “kindle” your word files too? ;-P

Considering how i4i makes software for Word itself (http://www.i4i.com/x4o.htm), it’s obvious that seeking an injunction against Word is nothing but extortion, as it gains absolutely nothing from that except the opportunity to squeeze MS for money to let the problem go away.

Microsoft Corp. has been ordered to stop selling several versions of its popular word-processing software, Word, in the U.S. after losing a court battle with a Toronto-based company.

A Texas judge issued the injunction Tuesday and awarded small Toronto technology firm, i4i, more than $290 million US in damages, ruling Microsoft wilfully infringed on the company’s 1998 patent for software that opens up documents using the XML computer programming language.

290-Million! Wonder how much goes to the lawyers.

Bwahahahahaha!

In case anybody wondered, I LOVE it when the citadels of corporate crapitalism get caught in their own bear-traps!

‘free-market’ system, my ass! — our economy is every bit as ‘centrally planned’ as the former Soviet bloc — it’s just that the ‘planning’ is done by corporate lobbyists, and enforced by way of IP law.

Way to go, proprietary software makers! — if Microsoft can’t sell Turd (oops, I mean ‘word’), that’s more market-share for openoffice.org (which will simply fork, if threatened with this type of thing.)

Boo-yah!

No, I think it’s just yet another prime example of how horribly stupid and incredibly useless intellectual property law is.