Word: Dictionaries Not Interchangeable Between Versions

 Last reviewed: July 30, 1997
Article ID: Q51532
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 3.0, 3.01, 3.02, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0

SUMMARY

The dictionaries used in Microsoft Word for the Macintosh are not interchangeable. The versions of Word and the names of the dictionaries that go with them are listed below: 

   Version of Word      Dictionary Name
   ---------------      ---------------
   6.0                     English Dictionary
   5.0, 5.1             US English Dictionary
   4.0                  MS Dictionary
   3.0, 3.01, 3.02      Main Dictionary
These dictionaries can be used only with their respective versions of Word. Because of the way these dictionaries are formatted, renaming a dictionary for use with any version of Word other than the one for which it was intended will not work.

MORE INFORMATION

In Word 4.0, if you change the name of another dictionary to MS Dictionary, the error message "Cannot locate MS dictionary" will appear (even though the file you created called "MS Dictionary" is visible on the desktop).

When Word 4.0 was created, the dictionary was renamed to MS Dictionary (from the Word 3.0 Main Dictionary) to establish a standard dictionary that can be used with both Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Word, and to distinguish the new, improved dictionary from the old one.

KBCategory: kbusage
KBSubCategory: kbproof
Additional query words: macword macword5
3.0 3.01 3.02 4.0 5.0 5.10 6.0

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Last reviewed: July 30, 1997
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