Microsoft WORD / OS 9 compatibility issues

[kvzichi]

OK, I may be the only person still using WORD version 5, however, I am, and with my legacy situation, it makes sense to continue to do so rather than upgrade to one of the bloated more recent issues of that software, so .....

Is there any way to make it work with OS 9? OS 8.6 and WORD get along just fine, but in OS 9 the menu shortcuts stop working, spell checking is erratic and the arrow keys stop working.

The software, other than such interface issues, continues to work just fine, however, with an impending change of hardware to OS X, I NEED to make this work in system 9 or I will be facing MANY (translation, hundreds) HOURS of work updating specialized forms and templates that I've developed over years of use.

Any help? Thanks!!!

[kvzichi]

Or let me ask it another way -- can System 8.6 be run in 'classic' mode rather than ONLY system 9 as implied by Apple? If so how do I do that? (Please respond in a way useful to someone who knows next to nothing about UNIX, but who is willing to learn!)

Thanks!

[kc0arf]

Hello,

OS X will not work with 8.6 as the Classic agent. Sorry about that. You need to be running 9.x to have it function properly.

Now, the larger question that I have is what version of 9 are you working with? In the day I was working with OS 9.x I would rarely have a problem. Make sure you are running with the latest 9.1 or later if you can. I do not remember what the last, final 9 version was. I do know that you do not want 9.0

Now, there is nothing wrong with working with 8.6 for the rest of your days. Granted it will not work on the latest hardware, but if you can keep an older Mac working, go for it. There is nothing wrong using two machines if you have a solid investment in a legacy solution.

Christian

[OppOnn]

When I changed to OSX, I had to upgrade my OS9 to OS9.2 before the
upgrade to Panther.

On Panther, I still can use my OS9.2 and OS.9. I also can use my
old MacWritePro, old MS, and very very old Dynodex address book, defunct
for many moons.

I had these programs on Zips and CDs and the transfer necessitated some
tidying up but it is now all in order (more or less) from last August. One
gets used to working in the Classic environment to work on these older
files.

O

[OppOnn]

Oops! I think it was 9.2.2 I had to have installed before I could go from OS9 to
Panther. Not 9.2. I didn't do it myself. Not capable!
O

[kvzichi]

I found the answer myself and figured I'd document it just in case anyone in the future looks for the same info.

It is ONLY WORD 5.0 that won't work with system 9 -- 'updating' to WORD 5.1 is the 'solution'. 5.1 and 5.0 share document formats and operate similarly so there is no learning curve -- and after using this system (osX classic and WORD 5.1) for some time, I can report it works like a charm. Never fully understood why people would upgrade beyond 5.0a before, but now I know! :)

Howcum no experts came up with this 'fix'?

//Ken Zichi

[CEDickson]

Everyone probably assumed when you said Word 5, that you meant 5.1. 5.1 fixed a number of issues back when.

I use Word 98 and like it better than 5.1. It is not as bloated as newer versions!