<word rant>

Okay, so here I am on my happy-slappy mac, running my happy-slappy mac with OS 10.5 and everything else.

And I have to create a document in MS word.

So I do so, and just so I can retrace my steps and use the formatting again, I save the document as a template (.dot) format.

So-far, so-good.

I’ve also saved it to a common drive, for use by others. This isn’t mapped implicitly in word:mac simply because I can’t find where to do it. There’s no “preferences” option under the Word menu, and the other place this particular option would be (at least in PC-World) — Tools — has no option for the changing of personal folders for templates either.

So I’m stuck saving to a share folder on a share drive. C’est la vie.

Now I want to open the template as a document.

Plan A: double-click the file in the Finder window.

I note with unease that the file hasn’t changed name (eg. document1 or similar). And when I try to save the file to the appropriate folder, I get the following highly helpful message:

You cannot save a template file to non-template format

And this is the case for every single other useful variation on the document format (.doc, .rtf, etc).

Useless.

Plan B: Do some research online to find a workaround

About.com has a question about precisely the same issue here.

I replied with a “your answer is disingenious and you’re a tosser”… well, no I didn’t because I’m subtle and slow-to-anger…

However, a subsequent response to the message gave me another way in – open the file as a copy. Which I did.

Strike two:

You cannot save a template file to non-template format

Plan C: Convert the whole thing to Pages and deal with minor irritations of formatting destruction on an export to Word

This is going to work. For though the export from Pages to Word can often have formatting issues, it’s better than fighting with Word to get something FUCKING SIMPLE DONE!!!

HONESTLY! How hard can it BE?!

Which IDIOT coded this particular piece of annoyance.

I’ve worked with MS word for over 10 years, and looking back, I’ve never had a good thing to say about it. I’m glad when things work, but the stress-factors with making them work is abysmal.

Fuck it. I’m going to use a word processor that actually works.

Microsoft Word coders are all bastards. And I mean that honestly and from the heart.

</word rant>