recipients cannot read word doc

I havea Windows xp and when i send a word doc i get a reply from the recipient that they can't read it. I am not familiar with a lot of computer terms so i would appreciate any help in simple words that can solve this problem. Thank you

 

biddie--If your recipients do not have Word, maybe they need this converter from MS
http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/9798/wdvw9716.aspx
Note there is a separate download for converting Word 2000 documents.

 

thank you so much Jim for your prompt reply. i will forward the information on

 

It could also be that your recipients are running an older version of Word than you are.

When "trading" word docs save the file as an RTF file and you will have better luck.

 

Thank you whitphil. I don't want to sound too dumb...but what is a RTF file? I am not familiar with a lot of terms or workings of the computer

 

RTF is the acronym for Rich Text Format. It is one of the formatting options in the Save As window, "Save as Type" line.
In the future you can answer questions like this for yourself, by going to
http://www.webopedia.com/
or if you want an overwhelming amount of info, you can search at
www.google.com
Might get you an answer quicker.