[thelist] Rich Text vs. Doc files (was Do we still need to say Download Acrobat Reader?)

Jackson Yee jyee at vt.edu
Wed Jul 17 16:45:01 CDT 2002


----- Original Message -----
From: "Austin Govella" <austin at desiremedia.com>
To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 16:26
Subject: [thelist] Rich Text vs. Doc files (was Do we still need to say
Download Acrobat Reader?)


> Are *.rtf files more accessible than *.doc files? Would it be better to
> save Word files as *.rtf or do other word processors choke on them?
>
> I'm looking for a good, friendly way to provide editable documents to
> students and faculty.

As long as they don't have to do any special print formatting such as borders
or shading, I would highly suggest RTF, as the RTF 1.5 standard has been
around for a long time, and many word processors will have no problem handing
RTF streams.  I used to be able to suggest Word files as well, but ever since
Microsoft came out with the "whole Word 2000 can't read Word 97 files
debacle," I've put .doc files behind me.

I actually do most of my writing in HTML natively now, but that's another
story.  8-)

Regards,
Jackson Yee
jyee at vt.edu
http://www.jacksonyee.com/




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