Use Zoho Writer to Open Word 2007 Files

Need to work on a Word 2007 file but don't have access to Office 2007? Just sign into your Zoho Writer account. The free online word processor is one of the few that supports Word 2007's Docx format.

During a recent business trip, I found myself needing to open just such a file. But when I fired up Lotus Symphony, the freeware office suite I'd installed, I discovered that it doesn't support Docx. Whoops!

Ah, well, no matter. I'll just upload the file to Docx Converter, a free Web service that converts Docx files to the older Doc format.

Did that, then waited for the link to the converted file to arrive in my inbox. And waited. And waited. When I couldn't wait any longer, I tried Zamzar, another file-conversion service. Same result: After 15 minutes, the e-mail still hadn't arrived.

Not good. I was in a hurry and needed access to this file pronto. Well, surely Google Docs supports Docx, right? Wrong. Turns out Google is a bit behind the file-format curve.

Then I remembered that Zoho Writer added Docx support nearly a year ago. So I signed in, uploaded my document, and presto: There it was.

By the way, it took many hours for the Docx Converter and Zamzar e-mails to arrive, so I've crossed both services off my list of tools to use when you're in a hurry. But Zoho Writer just got bumped to the top.