Question 2 - Should I alert the source that they are using a very outdated version of Word? My analogy: It's like trying to drive a Model T on the expressway!
Are you offering to purchase a copy of Microsoft Office for the source and everyone they communicate with? Word '97 may not be the latest version but there are still millions of users out there who have not updated. I know many organizations who habitually save Word files in older formats because many their correspondents have chosen not to upgrade Microsoft Office. In fact the majority of my PC using friends and a surprising number of my Mac using friends only update their software when they purchase a new computer. Witness the posts that still show up here about people with Claris Works and Appleworks files.
AFIK any subsequent version of Word will open the older Wore 97 files, as will most third party Word Processing applications. So using the older format guarantees compatibility with the broadest range of recipients. On the other side of that coin, I know of at least a couple of cases where critical contracts have been lost because they were sent in .docx format and the recipient could not open them and therefore chose another vendor.
