[imdipped]

I have Word 98 for Mac (PPC) and have many documents that contain a lot of forms that I created using the Table feature. I will be upgrading to an Intel Mac soon and I don’t want to buy another version of Word. I took a sample of these files to an independent Mac store and tried Tex-Edit but the formatting didn’t come out right. Pages didn’t do the job either. I also have a lot of stuff created in AppleWorks 5.

1. What choices do I have to be able to read these older documents?

2. Is there a way I can install my registered copy of Word 98 on an Intel Mac?

3. Is this the correct forum?

[brokenjago]

Yes, this is the correct forum.

Is Word 98 for OS 9? If so, you're out of luck, unless you want to go through the painful steps to emulate OS 9 on an Intel mac.

[imdipped]

Yes, I am using OS 9.

[PurpleGiant]

Classic doesn't run on Intel Macs, and since Word 98 is a Classic (OS 9 and below) application, there is no way to make it work on a new Mac.

Luckily for you, NeoOffice is free on Mac OS X and will open your Word documents just fine;

[JKT]

I don't know how well it works, but you can run OS 9 on Intel macs in Sheepshaver. It's probably slow (its the equivalent of running Windows in VPC), and it could be a little tricky to set up, but some people appear to have had at least some success with it.

However, NeoOffice is the first thing I would try as well. Its table creation and support isn't as good as MS Office, but it might be OK for a version as old as 98. Features-wise, they are very comparable, too.

[OreoCookie]

Word 98 is very old and it's worth to upgrade to something newer. Just have a look at these forums for alternatives. Here are a few from the top of my head: Nisus Writer ($45), Mellel ($49), Apple's iWork ($79), MS Office 2004 ($300 on amazon.com), NeoOffice (free), Papyrus (€99), … 

All of them are rather cheap with the exception of MS Office. If all you want to do is letters and perhaps some longer documents, all of them should be fine. All of them are compatible with Word documents (i. e. you can read and save .docs, although Nisus Writer uses .rtf which is also a native format for Word). Some newer features aren't supported, but since you were using Word 98 (which obviously isn't fully compatible with all features newer versions of MS Office sport) and you haven't mentioned anything about compatibility, this isn't really an issue for you, I guess.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by JKT 

I don't know how well it works, but you can run OS 9 on Intel macs in Sheepshaver. It's probably slow (its the equivalent of running Windows in VPC), and it could be a little tricky to set up, but some people appear to have had at least some success with it.

IMHO this is not really worth it.

[imdipped]

Since brokenjago’s almost immediate response to my questions, I have been checking into emulators and found SheepShaver. Fortunately I have OS 9.0.4 which came with my PowerMac G4 400 so if I can figure out how to install it, I will try if it comes to that. It means installing OS 9 just to read my Word 98 documents so I can convert them to I don’t know what yet.

I bought Word 98 in the first place because the table feature in AppleWorks 5 wouldn’t do the job for me. Also their graph (chart) feature was too light. I have heard that AppleWorks 6 is an improvement, but I haven’t tried it. I will probably have to get it just to bring over all the documents that I have written using AppleWorks 5 and then convert them into something else.

PurpleGiant’s suggestion of NeoOffice strikes a chord with me and if it will render my forms correctly, that may be all I need. I have to learn what happens if I send documents to people who are using MS Word. Having an open source word processor with an open standard document format should keep me from going through this nosebleed again. I have no intention of using proprietary productivity software again. Neo office/j seems to be where the action is currently.

JKT, thanks for your suggestion of SheepShaver and Neo Office.

OreoCookie, my word processing needs are generally modest; it’s only when I have to create complex forms or charts that I need something more powerful than Tex-Edit or AppleWorks. None of Apple’s word processors have been, probably to keep Microsoft happy. I don’t need any more capability than what Word 98 gives me.

Per your suggestions I have done some reading up on Nisus Writer, Mellel, Apple's iWork, MS Office 2004, NeoOffice, Papyrus, and Mariner Write. They are all good products. More than I require in most cases with the possible exception of Apple’s iWork. Pages is not a full strength word processor but it might be good enough if there is a strong form and charting capability. But then again, it’s a closed format.

As far as backward compatibility goes, I only need to bring what I have already created into Intel Mac. Then I can see if Neo office will suit my future needs. Unfortunately I have to interact with the world that uses Microsoft’s products.

A question about SheepShaver, does it run in emulation the way Bootcamp and Tiger presently does ie. one or the other, or like Parallels does?

Thanks for all of your help.

[TheoCryst]

Originally Posted by imdipped 

A question about SheepShaver, does it run in emulation the way Bootcamp and Tiger presently does ie. one or the other, or like Parallels does?

I have SheepShaver up and running fine on my MacBook, so I have a few observations:

1) It runs in a window, much like Parallels. No restart required!
2) It's surprisingly fast, and moderately stable. Probably only a little more unstable than OS 9 on native hardware (which isn't exactly spectacular, to say the least).
3) For some odd reason, I was unable to get Office 98 installed. It would install properly, but never run. I was probably doing something wrong, and didn't really care enough to try and fix it, so your mileage may vary. Oh, and did I mention that it was my first time playing with OS 9? Because I'm betting that had something to do with my failure.

And barring that, I'll toss in another vote for NeoOffice. Download it, give it a shot. It's free, so if it doesn't work as you had expected, you won't have lost anything.

[OreoCookie]

First of all, there's no real need to `convert anything', most of these apps should be able to read Word 98 files as is.

However, I would definitely suggest that you invest a little something (or nothing) into a new word processor.

[msuper69]

Originally Posted by imdipped 

...A question about SheepShaver, does it run in emulation the way Bootcamp and Tiger presently does ie. one or the other, or like Parallels does?....

Running Windows via Bookcamp or running Windows via Parallels - neither is emulated. The former is the "real" thing as the Mac is just acting as a PC while Parallels is a virtualization of a PC. Running Windows via Parallels is also the "real" thing, just a little slower. In either case neither environment is emulated.

[imdipped]

Thank you all for your replies. You have answered all of my questions and taken a load off my shoulders.

[goMac]

I would bite the bullet and upgrade to a newer Word processor. By sticking with Word 98, you're just going to make things harder on yourself every time Apple upgrades their OS/hardware.

You don't use a 10 year old computer, why would you use a 10 year old word processor?