Legacy File Converters for macOS (Word for Word)


Word for Word file converters packaged for modern macOS

The 1995-era Word for Word file-conversion utilities were  briefly released by Adobe in its Adobe File Utilities package, for DOS, Windows 3.x, Mac OS ("classic"), and Unix versions. I have packaged the DOS and classic Mac versions in applications for modern macOS. These applications only convert files in formats in use before 1995; do not try to use them with modern formats like DOCX, ODT, Word 2007, etc.

You may download the Legacy File Converters disk image here.

The disk image contains two applications, WordForWordDOS and WordForWordMac. You should drag one or both to your desktop or any other convenient folder. Also drag to your desktop or any other folder the PDF files beneath the application that you decide to use.

Each application is described below; you can use either or both, and they should produce similar results. Both are notarized by Apple for use on macOS.

These converters require macOS 13.0 or later.

For version that runs under current Windows, see a separate page.


WordForWordDOS

This is the DOS version of Word for Word, running in the DOSBox-X emulator. When you run the application for the first time it creates (or finds) a folder named DOSBoxDisk in your user folder, and, if it hasn't already done so, copies into the Word for Word program files (in a folder named WFW) and creates two folders named INFILES and OUTFILES. It then opens Word for Word. You may need to navigate around the folder list before the files that you placed in the INFILES list appear there.

Navigate the menus to explore the options and experiment with the results. You are on your own, because I can't help you with details.

You can also copy files into the INFILES folder by dropping them on the application icon (use only files with DOS-style 8.3 filenames).


WordForWordMac

This is the classic Mac OS version of Word for Word, running under System 7.6.1 in the BasiliskII emulator. Drop a file on the application's icon, and the application will copy it to the desktop of the emulated System 7.6.1 and open Word for Word in the emulator. Experiment for best results. When the software produces a converted file, drop the converted file on the "Copy to Host" icon, and it should be copied to your macOS desktop. You may shut down the emulator from its Apple menu or by clicking on the Shutdown icon on the emulated desktop.

Navigate the menus to explore the options and experiment with the results. You are on your own, because I can't help you with details.


Copyright

I do not know who owns the copyright to this software, which has not been available since 1997. If the copyright holder asks me to remove these applications from my site, I will instantly do so! The original vendor was Mastersoft; Mastersoft was reportedly acquired by Frame in 1995; Frame was acquired by Adobe later the same year, and Adobe then released the versions of Word for Word included in the Adobe File Utilties. I have seen a report saying that Adobe sold the product to Inso in 1997, but that Inso (which had its own competitive product, Outside In) did not want to market the Word for Word product, so it was never distributed again. Inso later became Stellent, which was later acquired by Oracle. The Word for Word technology had reportedly been licensed by Inso to Sun Microsystems (later acquired by Oracle) which used it in 2002 in the commercial version of its StarOffice 6.0 office suite; it was also used in other products that used the same technology. I do not know if the technology has been in use since. (The Austrian vendor MasterSoft Software Solutions has no connection with the original Mastersoft.)


Word for Word format codes

The following table lists the format codes used by the Word for Word software.. You may use these when specifying input and output formats. These codes are also listed in a PDF file installed with the application.

Automatic Recognition

AUTO

Ami Pro 1.x - 3.1

AMI

Ami Pro Graphics SDW

SDW

ASCII (Smart), PC

SAS

ASCII (Smart), PC - CP 850

SAS850

ASCII (Smart), MAC

SASM

ASCII (Smart), UNIX

SASX

ASCII (Smart), Windows

SASW

ASCII (Standard), PC

ASC

ASCII (Standard), PC - CP 850

ASC850

ASCII (Standard), MAC

ASCM

ASCII (Standard), UNIX

ASCX

ASCII (Standard), Windows

ASCW

ASCII (Stripped), PC

STA

ASCII (Stripped), PC - CP 850

STA850

ASCII (Stripped), MAC

STAM

ASCII (Stripped), UNIX

STAX

ASCII (Stripped), Windows

STAW

ASCII (Comma Delimited), PC

CSV

ASCII (Comma Delimited), WIN

CSVA

ASCII (Comma Delimited), MAC

CSVM

ASCII (Comma Delimited), UNIX

CSVX

ASCII (Comma/Quote Delim), PC

QSV

ASCII (Comma/Quote Delim), WIN

QSVA

ASCII (Comma/Quote Delim), MAC

QSVM

ASCII (Comma/Quote Delim), UNIX

QSVX

ASCII (Tab Delimited), PC

TSV

ASCII (Tab Delimited), WIN

TSVA

ASCII (Tab Delimited), MAC

TSVM

ASCII (Tab Delimited), UNIX

TSVX

AutoCAD (DXF,DXB)

DXF

AutoCAD (DXF)

DXF

CEOwrite 3.0

CEO

Claris Works 3.0

CLWKS

Communications Format

COM

CompuServe GIF

GIF

Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM)

CGM

CorelDraw Preview

COR

CTOS DEF

DEF

CTOS DEF (Word Processor)

DEFW

DBase IV 1.0

DB4

DBase III, III+

DB3

DCA/FFT - Final Form Text

FFT

DCA/RFT - Revisable Form Text

RFT

DCA/RFT - DisplayWrite 5

RFT2

Digital DX

DX

Digital WPS-PLUS

WPL

DisplayWrite 5

DW5

DisplayWrite 2,3,4

DW

EBCDIC

EBC

Enable 1.1, 2.0, 2.15

EN

Encapsulated PostScript Preview

EPS

Encapsulated PostScript Bitmap

EPS

FrameMaker (MIF) 4.0 - 5.0

MIF4

FrameMaker (MIF) 4.0 - 5.0 Win

MIF4W

FrameMaker (MIF) 4.0 - 5.0 Mac

MIF4M

FrameMaker (MIF) 4.0 - 5.0 Unix

MIF4X

FrameMaker (MIF) 3.0

MIF

FrameMaker (MIF) 3.0 Win

MIFW

FrameMaker (MIF) 3.0 Mac

MIFM

FrameMaker (MIF) 3.0 Unix

MIFX

Framework IV

FW4

Framework III 1.0, 1.1

FW3

HP AdvanceWrite Plus

AWP

HP PCL

HPPCL

HP Graphics Language (HPGL)

HPGL

HTML Level 3

HTML3

HTML Level 2

HTML2

HTML Level 1

HTML1

HTML Level 3 – Netscape

HTML3N

HTML Level 2 – Netscape

HTML2N

HTML Level 1 – Netscape

HTML1N

IBM Writing Assistant 1.0

WA

IGES

IGES

Interleaf 6.0

ILF6

Interleaf 5.2

ILF6

Interleaf 5.2 - 6.0

ILF5

Interleaf Publisher 1.1

INTL

JPEG

JPEG

Legacy 1.x, 2.0

LEG

Lotus 123 4.0 - 5.0

123v4

Lotus 123 3.0

123v3

Lotus 123 1A, 2.0, 2.1

123

Lotus Freelance

PRE

Lotus Manuscript 2.0, 2.1

MS2

Lotus PIC

LPIC

Macintosh QuickDraw (PICT)

PICT

Macintosh Paint

MPAINT

MacWrite Pro 1.0

MCWPRO

MacWrite II, 1.0 - 1.1

MCW2

MacWrite 4.5 - 5.0

MCW

Mass 11, Version 8.5 - 9.0

MASS

Mass 11, Version 8.0 - 8.33

MASS

Micrografx Designer (DRW)

MGX

MS Access 2.0

ACC2

MS Excel 5.0 - 7.0

XL5

MS Excel 4.0

XL4

MS Excel 3.0

XL3

MS Excel 2.1

XL

MS Excel Mac 4.0

XLM4

MS Excel Mac 3.0

XLM3

MS FoxPro for Windows 2.5

FOXW

MS RTF

RTF

MS RTF (WinWord 6)

RTFW6

MS RTF (MacWord 6)

RTFM6

MS RTF (ANSI Char Set)

RTF

MS RTF (Codepage 850)

RTFINT

MS RTF (MAC Char Set)

RTFM

MS RTF (PC Char Set)

RTFPC

MS Word for Windows 6.0 - 7.0

MSWW6

MS Word for Windows 2.0

MSWW2

MS Word for Windows 1.x

MSWW

MS Word for DOS 6.0

MS6

MS Word for DOS 5.0, 5.5

MS5

MS Word for DOS 4.0

MS4

MS Word for DOS 3.0, 3.1

MSW

MS Word for DOS 5.x (Mail Merge)

MSWM

MS Word for Mac 6.0

MWM6

MS Word for Mac 5.0, 5.1

MWM5

MS Word for Mac 4.0

MWM4

MS Word for Mac 3.0

MWM3

MS Works for Windows 3.0

MSWK

MS Write for Windows 3.x

MWW

MultiMate 4

MM4

MultiMate Advantage II

MA2

MultiMate Advantage I

MMA

MultiMate 3.3

MM

Navy DIF (GSA)

GSA

Navy DIF (WordPerfect)

DIF

OfficePower 7

OP7

OfficePower 6

OP6

OfficeWriter 6.0 - 6.2

OW6

OfficeWriter 5.0

OW5

OfficeWriter 4.0

OW4

OS/2 Bitmap

OS2B

OS/2 Metafile

OS2M

Paradox 3.5, 4.0

PDX

PC Paintbrush (DCX)

DCX

PC Paintbrush (PCX)

PCX

PeachText 5000 2.12

PT

PFS:First Choice 3.0

FC3

PFS:First Choice 2.0

FC2

PFS:First Choice 1.0

FC

First Choice 3.0 Data Base

FC3DB

PFS:WRITE Ver C

PFS

Professional Write 2.0 - 2.2

PW2

Professional Write 1.0

PPW

Professional Write Plus

PWP

Portable Network Graphics (PNG)

PNG

PostScript

PS

Q&A 4.0

QA4

Q&A Write 1.x, Q&A 3.0

QA3

Quattro Pro DOS

QPD

Quattro Pro Windows

QPW

Rapid File 1.2

RF1

Rapid File 1.0

RF

RGIP

RGIP

Samna Word IV & IV+ 1.0, 2.0

SW4

Signature 1.0

SIG

Sun Raster Graphics

RAS

Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)

TIFF

Total Word 1.2, 1.3

TW

Volkswriter 3,4

VW3

Volkswriter Deluxe 2.2

VW

Uniplex V7 - V8

V7

Uniplex OnGO

ONGO

Wang PC, Version 3

WANG

Windows Bitmap (BMP)

BMP

Windows Clipboard (CLP)

WINCLP

Windows Metafile (WMF)

WMF

Windows ICON

ICON

Windows Paint 2.x

WPAINT2

Windows RLE

WRLE

WiziWord

WIZI

WiziDraw

WIZID

WordPerfect for Windows 6.1

WPW61

WordPerfect for Windows 6.0

WPW6

WordPerfect for Windows 5.x

WPW51

WordPerfect 6.0

WP6

WordPerfect 5.1

WP51

WordPerfect 5.0

WP5

WordPerfect 4.2

W42

WordPerfect 4.1

WP4

WordPerfect Graphics 2 (WPG)

WPG2

WordPerfect Graphics 1 (WPG)

WPG

WordPerfect Mac 3.1 - 3.5

WPM31

WordPerfect Mac 3.0

WPM3

WordPerfect Mac 2.1

WPM21

WordPerfect Mac 2.0

WPM2

WordPerfect Mac 1.0

WPM1

WordPerfect 5.1 (Mail Merge)

WPMM

WordStar 7.0

WS7

WordStar 6.0

WS6

WordStar 5.5

WS55

WordStar 5.0

WS5

WordStar 4.0

WS4

WordStar 3.45

WS3

WordStar 3.3, 3.31

WS

WordStar for Windows

WSW

WordStar 2000, Rel 3.5

WS2R35

WordStar 2000, Rel 3.0

WS2R3

WriteNow 3.0

WNOW3

XEROX - XIF 5.0, 6.0

XIF

XIF Graphics (Interpress)

XIFG

Xwindows PixMap XPM

XPM

XyWrite for Windows

XYW

XyWrite IV

XY4

XyWrite III Plus

XYP

XyWrite III

XY3


Edward Mendelson (em thirty-six [at] columbia [dot] edu, but with two initials and two numerals before the [at] sign, not spelled out as shown here).