Docx is a Microsoft proprietary document file format and extension for its Office suite of office programs. This format is created by the Microsoft Word application since its 2007 version.
Docx is based on Open Packaging Conventions technology, where multiple files are packed and compressed into one. Compression is done by zip.
This format was introduced in Office 2007 with the idea of replacing the classic Word document with the .doc extension.
Other applications, in their most recent versions, support (some partially) the .docx, such as SoftMaker Office, OpenOffice.org (from version 3), KOffice (from version 2.2), TextEdit (from Apple), iWork, IBM Lotus Notes, Corel Wordperfect, Kingsoft Office and Google Docs.
An alternative to .docx is .docm, but it is less widely used.
Other «partners» to this format are XLSX for spreadsheets and PPTX for presentations.
Difference between .docx and .doc
Microsoft started using DOCX files in Microsoft Word starting with Word 2007, while earlier versions of Word used the DOC extension.
DOCX files are smaller and easier to support than DOC files because the format is based on XML and all content is stored as separate files and ultimately compacted into a single ZIP archive.
How to open a .docx document
Microsoft Word (version 2007 and higher) is the main software program used to open and edit DOCX files. If you have an older version of Microsoft Word, you can download the free Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack to open, edit, and save DOCX files in your older version of MS Word.
Actually, you don’t even need to open a DOCX file with Word because Microsoft has this free Word Viewer program that allows you to open Word documents as DOCX files without having to have MS Office installed.
Furthermore, you don’t even need any Microsoft Office-related programs on your computer to open these types of files, as there are several completely free word processor programs that open and edit DOCX files. Kingsoft Writer, OpenOffice Writer and ONLYOFFICE are some of the products that we regularly recommend.
The free Google Docs tool is an online word processor that can also open and edit DOCX files and, being a web-based tool, requires no software download. This also means, of course, that the DOCX files you want to use with Google Docs must be loaded into the tool before they can be viewed and edited.
Microsoft Word Online is another way to view and edit DOCX files online. That service is from Microsoft, so it’s a bit like the desktop version of Microsoft Word, but it’s completely free.
Google also has this free Chrome extension (Chrome extension) that allows you to view and edit DOCX files from your browser. It supports dragging local DOCX files to the Chrome browser, as well as opening DOCX files directly from the Internet without having to download them first.
The now defunct Microsoft Works also opens DOCX files. Although not free, Corel WordPerfect Office is another option you can pick up on Amazon.
Convert .docx to other formats
Most people are interested in converting a DOCX file to PDF or DOC, but the programs and services listed below also support a number of additional file formats.
The fastest, easiest and most effective way to convert a DOCX file is to simply open it in one of the word processing programs mentioned above and then save it to your computer as the file format you would like it to be in. Most applications do this through the File > Save As menu, or something similar.
It can also be done using an online converter like the Zamzar site. This is a great example of an online DOCX converter that can save the file to not only document formats like DOC, PDF, ODT, and TXT, but also eBook formats and image formats like MOBI, LIT, JPG, and PNG. .
To convert your DOCX file to Google Docs format for editing, first upload the file to your Google Drive account as mentioned above, via the New > Upload File menu. Then right-click the file in your account and select Open With menu > Google Docs to make a copy of the DOCX file and save it in a new format that Google Docs can read and use.
Caliber is a very popular freeware that also converts DOCX to eBook formats, such as EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, PDB, PDF, and many others. We recommend reading his instructions on converting Word documents for help creating an eBook from your DOCX file.
List of programs to open and convert docx documents
The ability to read and write the Office Open XML format is not limited to Microsoft Office; other office products can also read and write to this format:
– SoftMaker Office 2010: is capable of reading and writing DOCX and XLSX files in your word processing and spreadsheet applications.
– LibreOffice: You can open and save Office Open XML files.
– OpenOffice.org and Apache OpenOffice: since version 3.0 it has been able to import Office Open XML files, but not save them. Version 3.2 improves this feature with read support even for password-protected Office Open XML files.
– The Go-oo fork of OpenOffice can also write OOXML files.
– KOffice: from version 2.2 and later it is capable of importing OOXML files.
– Calligra Suite: is capable of importing Office Open XML files.
– TextEdit (included in OS X)
– iWork
-IBM Lotus Notes
-Abi word
-WordPerfect
-Kingsoft Office
– Google Docs
– SoftMaker Free Office
Brief history of the DOC and DOCX format
Microsoft Word began using the DOC format and the file extension more than 30 years ago in the first version of Word for MS-DOS. As an explicit extension of Microsoft’s proprietary document processor, the format was also proprietary: Word was the only program that officially supported DOC files until Microsoft opened up the specification in 2006, after which it was reverse-engineered.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, several competing products could work with DOC files, although some of Word’s more exotic formats and options were not fully compatible with other word processors. Since Office and Word were the de facto standards for office productivity suites and word processors, respectively, the closed nature of the file format no doubt helped Microsoft maintain its dominance over products like Corel’s WordPerfect.
Since 2008, Microsoft has published and updated the DOC format specification several times for use in other programs, although not all of Word’s advanced features are supported by open documentation.
After 2008, the DOC format was integrated into free and paid word processing programs from many vendors. This made working with older word processing formats much easier, and many users still prefer to save to the old DOC standard, in case a friend or client with an older version of Microsoft Office needs to open it.
Under pressure from growing competition from free and open source Open Office and its competitor Open Document Format (ODF), Microsoft was pushed to adopt an even broader open standard in the early 2000s. development of the DOCX file format, along with its peers such as XLSX for spreadsheets and PPTX for presentations.
The standards came under the name «Office Open XML» (no relation to the Open Office program), since the formats were based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) and not the older, less efficient binary-based format. This language allows for some benefits, including smaller file sizes, less chance of corruption, and more attractive compressed images.
The XML-based DOCX format became the default Word save file in the 2007 version of the software. At the time, many users assumed that the new DOCX format and its contemporaries of Microsoft Office were simply a means for Microsoft to phase out older versions of the software and sell new copies, since older versions of Word and Office couldn’t read the newer versions. XML files. This was not entirely true; Word 2003 can read special Word XML file formats, and compatibility updates were later applied to other versions. But in any case, some users manually saved files to the old DOC standard instead of DOCX for better compatibility…somewhat ironic, since it was only more compatible with older versions of Word, not with other cross-platform tools like Open Office Writer. .
Ten years later, DOCX has become the new de facto standard, although it is not as universal as the old DOC file format once was thanks to competitors such as ODF and a general decline in the traditional use of word processors.
Related
Open Packaging Conventions
Text editor
Word
Sources:
-Lifewire
-Office Open XML
– howtogeek.com
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