Question

Is Ms word backwards compatible or forward compatible? How? Why? Example.

Answer 1

later versions of MS Word are backward compatible with earlier versions (same language). For example, Chinese Word 2000 can convert and open documents of all other versions of Chinese Word but not vice versa. As for supporting Chinese characters, Chinese versions of MS Word do not have problems in handling Chinese characters, but some earlier English versions of MS Word may do. For example, English Word 6.0 and Word 95 basically do not support Chinese characters, but users can prepare Chinese documents with these versions of MS Word by using the Chinese enabling system. However, when the documents are shared among these versions, problems may occur.