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Level 1

20 points

How could I open and read MacWrite II documents in OSX?

Hello. I have a fairly extensive lot of documents created in MacWrite II, that have been saved/archived for a long time

on OS 9/8 machines. Any suggestion of the most straightforward/logical way I might migrate these docs to OSX without losing

original formatting? I see some reference to this dating back to 2005 which suggests using "Appleworks 6" but I don't think

that'll run on later OSX versions if i'm not mistaken....Ideally would rather not have to turn them all into MS Word .docs but

preferably keep them in the far simpler, more user-friendly Apple/Mac format (which still makes MacWrite a superior app for

simple and intuitive word-processing without needless complexity).

I have OSX ranging from Snow Leopard to Panther. It would just be easier to access these docs on a newer machine rather

than the old Power PC running 8.6/9.

Appreciate any suggestions!

Mike

Posted on Apr 29, 2011 4:35 PM

Best reply

Jeff

Level 6

12,058 points

Posted on Apr 29, 2011 7:02 PM

AppleWorks 6.2.9 is compatible with Macs running OS 10.3.x (I can't guarantee compatibility with Tiger), but you need AppleWorks v. 5.0 or ClarisWorks versions 5.0 or older to open the MacWrite files. Did any of your older Power Mac(s) ship with the bundled version of ClarisWorks? If so, you could open the files with ClarisWorks and save them as ClarisWorks files. Once done, the updated files could be opened with AppleWorks 6.2.9. The alternative would be to use a third-party program like MacLink Plus, to convert them from MacWrite files to ClarisWorks files. As for MacWrite/MacWrite Pro, the word processing portion of ClarisWorks/AppleWorks, it was a very capable, compact, and straightforward program to use.

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16 replies

Dec 15, 2016 2:25 AM in response to MIKEinMICH

If you mean Libre Office, then yes, that will open most archive formats including MacWrite II. The only problem you may run into is the use of different fonts, if the original fonts are no longer on your machine. In that case, try searching for the font name - 10-to-1 there is an equivalent for OS X. (Libre Office will also open Apple Works 6 and Claris Works documents).

If you want to go on working with Mac Write you can do so via an emulator running OS 9 (Google "Chubby Bunny" which comes pre-loaded with Mac Write); once set up, you can export the documents to OS X then convert them via Libre Office.

How could I open and read MacWrite II documents in OSX?