# Linux question re: translating MS Word .doc files

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-question-re-translating-ms-word-doc-files/283380>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 6, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-question-re-translating-ms-word-doc-files/283380 "2005-01-06T14:03:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-question-re-translating-ms-word-doc-files/283380/1 "2005-01-06T14:03:21Z")

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Running Debian unstable (latest software versions) with KDE, I have opened MS Word documents in both KWord (3.4?) and OpenOffice 1.1. Both applications open these documents, but both contain a few different translation errors / artifacts. Is there, in fact, a way that document formatting can be preserved without saving as a different file type from a Windows/MS Word system?

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**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-question-re-translating-ms-word-doc-files/283380/2 "2005-01-06T18:23:24Z")

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Only way I know of is to use Word itself on Wine.