Is there a utility which runs on XP to convert documents in ODT format to
Word 2003.

Libre Office can open them but it's too clunky.

On Sun, 15 May 2022 17:14:12 +0100, Pamela wrote:
> Is there a utility which runs on XP to convert documents in ODT format to
> Word 2003.
>
> Libre Office can open them but it's too clunky.

Use AbiWord. It's a full featured word processor, but it's quite
lightweight.

The official site no longer provide Windows download for latest version, so
only the older one is available.

https://www.abisource.com/

Latest version for Windows:

https://www.abisource.com/downloads/abiword/2.9.4/Windows/

Full list of formats supported. Some may need to be manually selected when
installing the software.

Load and Save Formats:
ApplixWare, ClarisWorks, DocBook, EPUB, Microsoft Office Open XML,
OpenDocument (ODT), OpenWriter (.sxw), Indic Script (ISCII) Text,
Saved Email (.eml) format, Wireless Markup Language, XSL-FO

Load-only Formats:
OPML, StarOffice Writer 5.1 (.sdw), T602, WordPerfect

Save-only Formats:
Newsgroup text (Hrtext), LaTeX

On 5/15/2022 12:14 PM, Pamela wrote:
> Is there a utility which runs on XP to convert documents in ODT format to
> Word 2003.
>
> Libre Office can open them but it's too clunky.
>
>

You would not expect a lot of utilities (ones kept current) to run on Windows XP.

https://www.howtogeek.com/765461/what-is-an-odt-file-and-how-do-you-open-one/

The article here says LO 5.4 is the last one for WinXP.

https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/winxp-version/25891

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/5.4#Windows

"Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP2 are both deprecated.
The 5.4 release will be the last with any support of these operating systems."

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ODF

"LibreOffice natively implements ODF versions 1.0/1.1, 1.2, 1.2 with extensions,
1.3, or 1.3 with extensions (the latter two since release 7.0).

This includes the OpenDocument Format Formula (OpenFormula a.k.a. ODFF)
specifications as well, since ODF version 1.2."

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Comparison_of_ODF_software

"ODF release dates: # This article also includes a handy
# but limited. table of tools.
ODF 1.0 May 2005
ODF 1.1 February 2007
ODF 1.2 September 2012
ODF 1.3 January 2020"

The various commercial offerings, well, a lot of work to evaluate
what they've got for standards compliance or interworking.

https://www.softmaker.de/softmaker-office

Paul

On Sun, 15 May 2022 17:12:21 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
wrote:

>On 5/15/2022 12:14 PM, Pamela wrote:
>> Is there a utility which runs on XP to convert documents in ODT format to
>> Word 2003.
>>
>> Libre Office can open them but it's too clunky.
>>
>>
>
>You would not expect a lot of utilities (ones kept current) to run on Windows XP.
>
> https://www.howtogeek.com/765461/what-is-an-odt-file-and-how-do-you-open-one/
>
>The article here says LO 5.4 is the last one for WinXP.
>
>https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/winxp-version/25891
>
> https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/5.4#Windows
>
> "Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP2 are both deprecated.
> The 5.4 release will be the last with any support of these operating systems."
>
>https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ODF
>
> "LibreOffice natively implements ODF versions 1.0/1.1, 1.2, 1.2 with extensions,
> 1.3, or 1.3 with extensions (the latter two since release 7.0).
>
> This includes the OpenDocument Format Formula (OpenFormula a.k.a. ODFF)
> specifications as well, since ODF version 1.2."
>
>https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Comparison_of_ODF_software
>
> "ODF release dates: # This article also includes a handy
> # but limited. table of tools.
> ODF 1.0 May 2005
> ODF 1.1 February 2007
> ODF 1.2 September 2012
> ODF 1.3 January 2020"
>
>The various commercial offerings, well, a lot of work to evaluate
>what they've got for standards compliance or interworking.
>
>https://www.softmaker.de/softmaker-office
>
> Paul

OpenOffice still works fine on XP. I still use PortableApp's
4.1.11version, but the installer version was updated this month.

<https://portableapps.com/apps/office/openoffice_portable>

<https://blogs.apache.org/OOo/entry/announcing-apache-openoffice-4-18>

OTOH the OP wanted something lightweight

Atlantis Lite opens ODT and can save as .docx.
Just tried it and EXEinfoPE identified the .docx as "Word
2007".

<https://www.atlantiswordprocessor.com/en/lite.htm>

The download is about 3MB and it's free.
[]'s
--
Don't be evil - Google 2004
We have a new policy - Google 2012
Google Fuchsia - 2021

"JJ" <jj4public@gmail.com> wrote

| Load and Save Formats:
| ApplixWare, ClarisWorks, DocBook, EPUB, Microsoft Office Open XML,
| OpenDocument (ODT), OpenWriter (.sxw), Indic Script (ISCII) Text,
| Saved Email (.eml) format, Wireless Markup Language, XSL-FO
|

MS Word 2003 saves as DOC.

"Paul" <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote

| The article here says LO 5.4 is the last one for WinXP.
| | https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/winxp-version/25891

I use that, and have for many years. I've never had MSO
and never wanted to. Mostly I only use LO
to print work contracts, receipts, etc, and to convert
DOC and DOCX to text, so that I don't have to wait for
that bloated mess to load every time I want to read simple
text that some MSO addict sent me as a Word file.

On Sun, 15 May 2022 21:14:07 -0400, Mayayana wrote:
> "JJ" <jj4public@gmail.com> wrote
>
>| Load and Save Formats:
>| ApplixWare, ClarisWorks, DocBook, EPUB, Microsoft Office Open XML,
>| OpenDocument (ODT), OpenWriter (.sxw), Indic Script (ISCII) Text,
>| Saved Email (.eml) format, Wireless Markup Language, XSL-FO
>|
>
> MS Word 2003 saves as DOC.

Oops. Those list are taken from the optional format plugins available to
install, so it doesn't list all the formats.

However, while AbiWord does list Microsoft Word *.DOC as loadable and
saveable format (in the file open/save dialog), it saves Microsoft Word
*.DOC with RTF content instead - which can not include Word specific
features. Bad! Bad AbiWord!

Pamela wrote:

> Is there a utility which runs on XP to convert documents in ODT format to
> Word 2003.
>
> Libre Office can open them but it's too clunky.

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/howto/convert-openoffice-odt-word-docx/

That describes how to convert an .odt file to .doc format. It involves
using WordPad, and that's available on Windows XP. WordPad support RTF,
and the conversion has you changing .odt to OpenDocument format (ODF).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument

That says MS Office (Word) 2003 supports ODF, but you need to install an
add-in you download.

http://odf-converter.sourceforge.net/download.html

has you get the add-on by clicking on:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter/files/ODF%20Add-in%20for%20Office/Release%204.0/

Last update was back in 2010, but then you're asking about Word 2003
which was released back in, well, 2003. Since you didn't ask how to
convert from .odt to .doc[x], your wording indicates you have Word 2003
installed, and why you want to use that to view ODT files.

Since MS Word 2003, and later, support XML file format, likeODT, and if
you have an MS account (not sure this is needed), you could use the
online copy of MS Word (log into your MS account, and go to
https://www.office.com/) to upload and import the .odt file into Word
Online, and then save in whatever output formats are supported by Word
Online. If you have a Google account, you can do the same by logging
in, and using Google Docs to load the .odt file, and Save As docs
format. You can find lots of ODT-to-DOC online converters using an
online search on "convert odt to doc".

Conversion likely corrupts the original document, because not all
content might be supported in the converted format, and visa versa if
you convert DOC to ODT.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/differences-between-the-opendocument-text-odt-format-and-the-word-docx-format-d9d51a92-56d1-4794-8b68-5efb57aebfdc

How do you know LibreOffice is too "clunky" unless you already have it
installed to use it to experience the "clunkiness"? Not sure how
double-clicking on an .odt file to have it automatically load into
LibreOffice's Writer is considered clunky.

On Mon, 16 May 2022 at 00:52:54, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote (my
responses usually FOLLOW):
[]
>Last update was back in 2010, but then you're asking about Word 2003
>which was released back in, well, 2003. Since you didn't ask how to
>convert from .odt to .doc[x], your wording indicates you have Word 2003
>installed, and why you want to use that to view ODT files.
[]
(I'm on W7 [32 bit], but as this is about Word 2003, I thought I'd
mention it [this thread was in the XP 'group only].)

The last update may be _dated_ 2010, but I still _got some_ last month.

For my system - W7, Office 2003 - I'd more or less got used to having no
updates but the Malicious Software Removal Tool about once a month, from
about 2020-12 to 2022-3. (Yes, I know it doesn't do much, but I can't
see it does any harm.)

Must have been early last month, I tried the Microsoft Security
Essentials (I hadn't had it on before; I had AVG). [I turned MSE off
after a short while, as it seemed to impact performance quite a bit.)

Whether it was due to that or for some other reason - and I can't think
of anything else - I suddenly started getting updates for Office 2003
(and a few other things, like Viewer 2007, and Visual C++ 2010 and 2008
SP1); guessing from their KB numbers they're probably _dated_ some years
ago (for the ones with 2003 in the name, mostly 2xxxxxx, the odd
9xxxxx), but I hadn't had them until now. The most recent one with 2003
in its name was _installed_ 2022-4-16 (as part of a block of
thirtysomething that day).

All seem to have installed successfully, and they don't seem to have
broken the only bits of Office I actually use (Word and Excel).

FWIW I have it set to tell me when updates are available but let me
choose to install them - though for the last few years I've usually done
so when it has told me (I just like to see what they are). I haven't
changed that setting for years.

Any idea why they suddenly started appearing after so long with just the
monthly MSRT? (Or, perhaps a better question, why they _didn't_ appear
much earlier?)

Just curious!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

A dishwasher is rubbish at making treacle sponge. - Marjorie in UMRA, 2017-1-15

On 5/16/2022 6:38 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
> On Mon, 16 May 2022 at 00:52:54, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote (my responses usually FOLLOW):
> []
>> Last update was back in 2010, but then you're asking about Word 2003
>> which was released back in, well, 2003.  Since you didn't ask how to
>> convert from .odt to .doc[x], your wording indicates you have Word 2003
>> installed, and why you want to use that to view ODT files.
> []
> (I'm on W7 [32 bit], but as this is about Word 2003, I thought I'd mention it [this thread was in the XP 'group only].)
>
> The last update may be _dated_ 2010, but I still _got some_ last month.
>
> For my system - W7, Office 2003 - I'd more or less got used to having no updates but the Malicious Software Removal Tool about once a month, from about 2020-12 to 2022-3. (Yes, I know it doesn't do much, but I can't see it does any harm.)
>
> Must have been early last month, I tried the Microsoft Security Essentials (I hadn't had it on before; I had AVG). [I turned MSE off after a short while, as it seemed to impact performance quite a bit.)
>
> Whether it was due to that or for some other reason - and I can't think of anything else - I suddenly started getting updates for Office 2003 (and a few other things, like Viewer 2007, and Visual C++ 2010 and 2008 SP1); guessing from their KB numbers they're probably _dated_ some years ago (for the ones with 2003 in the name, mostly 2xxxxxx, the odd 9xxxxx), but I hadn't had them until now. The most recent one with 2003 in its name was _installed_ 2022-4-16 (as part of a block of thirtysomething that day).
>
> All seem to have installed successfully, and they don't seem to have broken the only bits of Office I actually use (Word and Excel).
>
> FWIW I have it set to tell me when updates are available but let me choose to install them - though for the last few years I've usually done so when it has told me (I just like to see what they are). I haven't changed that setting for years.
>
> Any idea why they suddenly started appearing after so long with just the monthly MSRT? (Or, perhaps a better question, why they _didn't_ appear much earlier?)
>
> Just curious!

It's possible when you use MSE, that Windows Update is flipped to Microsoft Update
and you receive updates for Office as a result.

Paul

On Mon, 16 May 2022 at 08:07:50, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote (my
responses usually FOLLOW):
>On 5/16/2022 6:38 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
[]
>> FWIW I have it set to tell me when updates are available but let me
>>choose to install them - though for the last few years I've usually
>>done so when it has told me (I just like to see what they are). I
>>haven't changed that setting for years.
>> Any idea why they suddenly started appearing after so long with just
>>the monthly MSRT? (Or, perhaps a better question, why they _didn't_
>>appear much earlier?)
>> Just curious!
>
>It's possible when you use MSE, that Windows Update is flipped to
>Microsoft Update
>and you receive updates for Office as a result.
>
> Paul

Ah, that would make sense. Although I hadn't specifically changed my
update strategy, as you say turning on MSE might have changed that. The
updates _do_ seem to be settling down in numbers.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

What's awful about weird views is not the views. It's the intolerance. If
someone wants to worship the Duke of Edinburgh or a pineapple, fine. But don't
kill me if I don't agree. - Tim Rice, Radio Times 15-21 October 2011.

On Mon, 16 May 2022 08:07:50 -0400, Paul wrote:
> On 5/16/2022 6:38 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
> > [quoted text muted]
> >
> > Any idea why they suddenly started appearing after so long with just the monthly MSRT? (Or, perhaps a better question, why they _didn't_ appear much earlier?)
> >
> > Just curious!
>
> It's possible when you use MSE, that Windows Update is flipped to Microsoft Update
> and you receive updates for Office as a result.

That was my thought also.

But John said he was also getting old _Windows_ updates. Maybe MSE
also flips the switch to install all updates, including the
"optional" ones not previously installed, or even the ones the user
has explicitly hidden? Or maybe it just did a one-time install of
"missing" updates.

John reported that MSE seemed to bog down his system. Maybe it wasn't
MSE per se, but all those updates?

I tried googling for
"microsoft Security Essentials" installs old Windows updates
(quotes as shown). This up more good hits about MSE than about
updates. I'll deal with updates first.

The 25th hit was
<https://askleo.com/why-am-i-still-getting-updates-for-windows-7/>
and seems to answer John's primary question. Here's the TL;DR line at
the top:
"Updates are updates except when they?re not, and the difference
matters."
The article is clearly written and not too long; it's worth a read.
There's also good info for Windows 7 users in the comments.

--------- Microsoft Security Essentials and alternatives -----------

The 12th hit was
<https://pctonic.net/2-reasons-why-you-might-want-to-ditch-ms-
security-essentials-and-why-shouldnt/>
which begins
"#1 Revoltingly long first update
"Microsoft Security Essentials takes a ridiculous amount of time to
update for the first time (just after you install it). On a slow
connection, it can be as long as an hour or more! Since future
updates are all automatic and silent, this is likely the only time
you?re gonna notice the update, and naturally you feel pissed off.
People assume it?s always gonna take that long to update (which would
be outrageous), and uninstall it without thinking twice. This is not
true. The subsequent updates are small and fast as any other
antimalware program. So why the gigantic first update? Lets see."

But apart from the performance issue. which looks like a first-time-
only problem, you wouldn't want to use MSE because it's not getting
platform updates, only definition updates, and even for those who
knows for how long?
<https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-security-
essentials-to-get-updates-after-windows-7-eos/>

Does Windows 7 come with Windows Defender? IIRC, reviews say it's
fairly lightweight and does a decent job of catching malware. And it
doesn't come with the baggage of AVG and Avast. If it's available,
I'd use that and supplement it with daily scans by Malwarebytes Free.

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

On Mon, 16 May 2022 at 10:12:43, Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm>
wrote (my responses usually FOLLOW):
>On Mon, 16 May 2022 08:07:50 -0400, Paul wrote:
>> On 5/16/2022 6:38 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
>> > [quoted text muted]
>> >
>> > Any idea why they suddenly started appearing after so long with
>> >just the monthly MSRT? (Or, perhaps a better question, why they
>> >_didn't_ appear much earlier?)
>> >
>> > Just curious!
>>
>> It's possible when you use MSE, that Windows Update is flipped to
>>Microsoft Update
>> and you receive updates for Office as a result.
>
>That was my thought also.
>
>But John said he was also getting old _Windows_ updates. Maybe MSE
>also flips the switch to install all updates, including the
>"optional" ones not previously installed, or even the ones the user
>has explicitly hidden? Or maybe it just did a one-time install of
>"missing" updates.

That seems very plausible.
>
>John reported that MSE seemed to bog down his system. Maybe it wasn't
>MSE per se, but all those updates?
>
>I tried googling for
> "microsoft Security Essentials" installs old Windows updates
>(quotes as shown). This up more good hits about MSE than about
>updates. I'll deal with updates first.
>
>The 25th hit was

I must be a lot more circumspect when asking questions: I certainly
didn't mean anyone to go to the extent of reading to the 25th hit!

><https://askleo.com/why-am-i-still-getting-updates-for-windows-7/>
>and seems to answer John's primary question. Here's the TL;DR line at
>the top:
>"Updates are updates except when they?re not, and the difference
>matters."
>The article is clearly written and not too long; it's worth a read.

Thanks; have done. The gist seems to be "the update mechanism is used to
update more than just the OS - it also updates things like Office, MSE,
and the MSRT."

>There's also good info for Windows 7 users in the comments.
>
>--------- Microsoft Security Essentials and alternatives -----------
>
>The 12th hit was
><https://pctonic.net/2-reasons-why-you-might-want-to-ditch-ms-
>security-essentials-and-why-shouldnt/>
>which begins
>"#1 Revoltingly long first update
>"Microsoft Security Essentials takes a ridiculous amount of time to
>update for the first time (just after you install it). On a slow
>connection, it can be as long as an hour or more! Since future
>updates are all automatic and silent, this is likely the only time
>you?re gonna notice the update, and naturally you feel pissed off.

It was some _days_ (might even have been a week or two) after turning it
on that I decided it was what was slowing things down a lot.

>People assume it?s always gonna take that long to update (which would
>be outrageous), and uninstall it without thinking twice. This is not

I haven't (knowingly) uninstalled it, just turned it off.

>true. The subsequent updates are small and fast as any other
>antimalware program. So why the gigantic first update? Lets see."
>
>But apart from the performance issue. which looks like a first-time-
>only problem, you wouldn't want to use MSE because it's not getting
>platform updates, only definition updates, and even for those who
>knows for how long?
><https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-security-
>essentials-to-get-updates-after-windows-7-eos/>
>
>Does Windows 7 come with Windows Defender? IIRC, reviews say it's
>fairly lightweight and does a decent job of catching malware. And it
>doesn't come with the baggage of AVG and Avast. If it's available,
>I'd use that and supplement it with daily scans by Malwarebytes Free.
>
MSE seems to still be getting Security Intelligence Updates (KB2310138)
daily on this 7-32 - the latest installed being Version 1.363.2043.0
today. And MSRT (KB890830) abut monthly - latest being v5.101 yesterday.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

If you believe in telekinesis, raise my right hand