Summary
|
| Name |
Microsoft Word Document |
| Version |
97-2003 |
| Other names |
Microsoft Word for Windows Document (97-XP) |
| Identifiers |
MIME:
application/msword
Apple Uniform Type Identifier:
com.microsoft.word.doc
PUID:
fmt/40
|
| Family |
|
| Classification |
Word Processor |
| Disclosure |
None |
| Description |
With the release of Word 97, Microsoft revised the native binary word processing format, which is based on its generic OLE2 Compound Document Format. The format is proprietary and Microsoft does not make details of its structure public. The information here is derived primarily from OpenOffice.org's reverse-engineered documentation of the format and should not therefore be regarded as definitive. A Word document is stored as a ‘WordDocument’ stream within a Compound Document Format file. The format remained unchanged with the releases of Word 2000, 2002 and 2003. An alternative extension of .wbk refers to a backup file of a Word document, however there is no material or structural difference between a .wbk file and the .doc file it is a backup of. |
| Orientation |
Binary |
| Byte order |
Little-endian (Intel) |
| Related file formats |
Has lower priority than Microsoft Word Document Template (97-2003)
Has lower priority than Microsoft Word Document (Password Protected) (97-2003)
Has lower priority than Microsoft Word Document Template (Password Protected) (97-2003)
Has priority over OLE2 Compound Document Format
Has priority over Microsoft Word (Generic) (6.0-2003)
Is subsequent version of Microsoft Word Document (6.0/95)
Is subtype of OLE2 Compound Document Format
|
| Technical Environment |
|
| Released |
|
| Supported until |
|
| Format Risk |
|
| Developed by |
 Microsoft Corporation
|
| Supported by |
Microsoft Corporation
|
| Source |
Digital Preservation Department / The National Archives
|
| Source date |
11 Mar 2005 |
| Source description |
This format can be identified via a container signature in DROID version 6 or later. The PRONOM database cannot currently represent container signatures. |
| Last updated |
19 Apr 2012 |
| Note |
|
Details: File format summary
: detailed report on file format 
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