If you have a version of Word that uses the docx, docm, etc "new formats" natively, it should include the ability to "Save As" the recent older .doc instead of as .docx. When you do a save, the file type bar will show "Word 97 - 2003 (*.doc)." You don't have to ever use the .docx format just because Microsoft says "it's better."

If you have an older version of Word, you can download "filters" to let the older ones open and read the .docx formatted files, and I believe the filter lets you save files in that format, although the older program may not let you include quite all of the supposed "features" the new versions can use in the format.

I've been using Word 2007, with "native .docx," for a couple of years and don't have any .docx files on my computer. Of course, I'm a "lightweight" user since semi-retirement, so I only have about 15,004 .doc files on active drives.

As a young lady friend says the chef/instructor at the Paris Cordon-Bleu school explained to her, "the best thing you can say about iceberg lettuce is 'you don't have to use it.'"

You don't have to use .docx, .docm, .dotx, .dotm just because they're there.

John