DOC (computing)

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Word Document

File name extension	`.doc`
Internet media type	`application/msword`
Developed by	Microsoft
Type of format	Word document
Container for	Text, Image

In computing, DOC or doc (an abbreviation of 'document') is a file extension for word processing documents; most commonly for Microsoft Word. Historically, the extension was used for documentation in plain-text format, particularly of programs or computer hardware, on a wide range of operating systems. During the 1980s, WordPerfect used DOC as the extension of their proprietary format. Later, in the 1990s, Microsoft chose to use the DOC extension for their proprietary Microsoft Word word processing formats. The original uses for the extension have largely disappeared from the PC world.

Binary DOC files often contain more text formatting information (as well as scripts and undo information) than files using other document file formats like Rich Text Format and HyperText Markup Language, but are usually less widely compatible.

The DOC format varies among Microsoft Office Word Formats. Word versions up to 97 used a different format than Microsoft Word version between 97 and 2003. With the release of Office 2007, Microsoft uses a new XML-based format with the DOCX extension which is natively supported in Office 2007 and also by older versions of Office if the freely downloadable Compatibility Pack is installed. ^[1]

The DOC format is native to Microsoft Office Word, but other software, such as the free software GUI programs OpenOffice.org Writer, AbiWord and KWord, can create and read .doc files. Command line programs in the Unix shell which can convert files from the DOC format to plain text or other standard formats include the wv library, which itself is used directly by AbiWord and as a source of ideas and some coding by KWord. Due to the closed nature of the .doc file format, high-level formatting (including headers and footers) is often lost when written in one program and opened in the other.

The format specification was available from Microsoft on request until February 2008, when the .DOC format specification was made freely available under the Microsoft Open Specification Promise patent licensing. ^[2]

On the Palm OS, DOC is shorthand for PalmDoc, a completely unrelated format used to encode text files such as ebooks.