Getting Started

Using AbiWord is comparable to using any other word processor, but there are some notes here that will help anyone looking to be productive with AbiWord.

Overview

Saving Work

Viewing AbiWord Documents with Microsoft Word

Viewing Word Documents with AbiWord

Saving Work

One important note concerns saving files. Here's a brief run-down on the file formats that AbiWord uses:

Applix Words (.aw)

Docbook (.dbk)

XSL-FO (.fo)

XHTML (.html)

LaTeX (.latex)

PalmDoc (.pdb)

Psion TextEd (.psitext)

Psion Word (.psiword)

Rich Text Format (.rtf)

Text (.txt)

UTF8 (.utf8)

WML (.wml)

These file formats are in addition to the native XML format AbiWord uses, .abw.

AbiWord's .abw default format is the best choice for AbiWord documents. However, for sharing documents with people using other programs or to move data between AbiWord and other software, use one of the above formats.

Viewing AbiWord Documents with Microsoft Word

Until Microsoft announces support for AbiWord files, documents created with AbiWord will first need to be exported into a format that Word can read. This is most easily done by choosing Rich Text Format when saving.

Rich Text Format is often used by Microsoft Office products, and they will have no trouble importing documents saved in this fashion.

Viewing Word Documents with AbiWord

AbiWord can open documents created in Microsoft format. Open the document using File > Open. After opening the document, there may be some differences in the way AbiWord presents the document when compared the Microsoft Word.

Microsoft's formats change frequently and importing .doc formatted files may not always work as expected. Try using Word to save the document as a .rtf file and importing the result into AbiWord. If it is necessary to edit the document, save it as an AbiWord file (.abw) before continuing.