Microsoft Word .docx Problem
As of Word 2007, Microsoft Office introduced a new file format (and extension) for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. Prior to this, Word documents had the .doc extension, but new documents end in .docx. This can be a problem if you have a version of Microsoft Word prior to 2007, as there is no support for the new .docx format, and if someone send you a file in this format, you can’t open it!
Microsoft’s Workaround
Microsoft has released its “Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats”, which allows you to “open, edit, and save documents, workbooks, and presentations in the Open XML file formats which were introduced to Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint beginning with Office 2007.”
The compatibility pack can be downloaded here.
Problems
What happens if you can’t install the compatibility pack? Maybe you are using a PC on which you don’t have rights to install new software. Maybe you don’t want to add more bloat just to open 1 document that a friend sent you. I could go on.
Convert DOCX to DOC Online
If you do a quick search you’ll find that there are tools online that allow you to upload a .docx file and convert it to a .doc format that you can open.
However, these tools aren’t without their drawbacks. Some are not free, and most require you to give them a valid email address.
The Solution
After a bit of searching I found one website that will convert DOCX to DOC files for free: