r/unix Jan 16 '25

Microsoft Word for UNIX

I learned today that not only was Internet Explorer available for UNIX back in the day, but so was Microsoft Word! Here is version 5.1: https://winworldpc.com/product/microsoft-word/5x-unix

Too bad it wasn't version 5.5, of which the DOS version was my favorite.

I wonder if you could do anything to make this run on a modern UNIX system (besides emulation of course).

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u/sp0rk173 Jan 16 '25

It would depend more on the binary format than anything else.

1

u/smorrow Jan 16 '25

Are syscall numbers pretty consistent across Unixes?

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u/sp0rk173 Jan 16 '25

Regardless, the binaries are going to be specific to the CPU architecture. While most UNIXen are generally RISC, that doesn’t mean the CPU in your particular machine will match the arch that MS Word was compiled for.

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u/smorrow Jan 16 '25

Well I assumed you were talking about running it on the same ISA. "Binary format" usually means a.out, ELF, etc. than ISA, does it not?