Thank you for sending me the document.  It's an interesting topic,
and I'd like to read about it.  However, you sent the document in
Microsoft's Word format, a secret proprietary format, so it is
hard for me to read.  If you send me plain text, HTML, or PDF,
then I will read it.

I'm not a customer of Microsoft and have no intention of becoming
one, so I don't use their software, and you sent me a file in
their closed, proprietary document format (Word .DOC).  If you
wish me to read the document, you'll have to send it to me in an
open, platform independent document format.  In fact, this should
be your first choice for all document exchange.

Distributing documents in Word format is bad for you and for
others.  Many people use the Internet without being aware of the
basic principle on which it operates, namely, the use of open
standards and protocols like plain text, rather than closed,
proprietary ones like MS Word.  Not everyone uses MS Word.  Not
everyone uses Windows, without which one cannot use MS Word.  And
even among those who do use MS Word, not everyone uses the same
version, and documents created in one version of Word may not be
usable by other versions.  On the other hand, all people who use
the Internet can read plain text files such as this one.  For this
reason, plain text, rather than MS Word or other formats, is the
standard for E-mail and most other Internet communications.

An additional point to consider is that MS Word files can contain
trojans, viruses, or other malicious code that could harm your
system, or mine if I were able or willing to accept them.  Plain
text files do not have this problem, another reason why e-mail
should always be sent as plain text if at all possible, and never
as MS Word files.

In addition to issues of readability and protection against
infection, there are also other serious security issues involved
with using Microsoft Word enclosures.  A Microsoft Word document
may include information that is not visible to the preparer of the
document, but is readable by certain tools.  The unreadable
information inadvertently included in Microsoft Word documents may
in fact be information that the sender or his/her organization
intends to keep confidential.  Thus, using Microsoft Word
enclosures can lead to the accidental release of confidential
information.  This can happen when one uses a template from one
document (i.e., erases the text, but keeps the formatting) to
create another.

In short, E-mail should always be sent as plain text if at all
possible, and never as MS Word files.
Thank you for your cooperation.

Here is how to send an easy-to-read document:

1. If your document is nothing but text with no formatting, no
fonts, no colours, and no layout requirements, then save it as a
"plain text" file and attach that with a text/plain MIME type (and
the name of the character set that your "plain text" employs) to
your message.

2. If you intend your document to be laid out in a particular manner
that you have specified, then save it as a PDF file and attach
that with an application/pdf MIME type to your message.

3. If you don't mind how your document is laid out when viewed,
but it contains complex formatting such as headers and tables, or
hyperlinks, then save it as an HTML file and attach that with a
text/html MIME type to your message.

If you prefer typing your documents in using Word, you can "Save
as.... TEXT" or "Save as... HTML" and email the resulting file,
rather than sending the original Word file (i.e., one with a
".doc" file name extension).  Here are some more detailed
instructions: open the document, click on File, then "Save As",
and in the "Save As Type" strip box at the bottom of the box,
choose "Text Document".  Then choose Save.  You can then attach
the new text document instead of your Word document.  Note that
versions of Word change in inconsistent ways -- if you see
slightly different menu item names, please try them.

Another alternative is to use "copy-and-paste".  First
"Edit/Select All" in Word and then paste it into your email
program.

For further information about how the proprietary Word format is
harmful to you, whether you are a sender or a receiver, please see
the documents below.

Please don't send me Microsoft Word documents, by Tristan Miller
http://www.dfki.uni-kl.de/~miller/no-word</a></p>

Don't send Microsoft Word documents to me, by Jonathan de
Boyne Pollard
http://homepages.tesco.net/~J.deBoynePollard/FGA/dont-send-word-documents.html

plaintext: In praise of practical e-mail hygiene, by Martin Vermeer
http://www.hut.fi/~mvermeer/plain.html

MS-Word is NOT a document exchange format by Jeff Goldberg
http://www.goldmark.org/netrants/no-word/attach.html

We Can Put an End to Word Attachments, by Richard M. Stallman
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html

Attachments in Proprietary Formats Considered Harmful, by Manuel
Chakravarty
http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~chak/email.html

Sincerely,