Several years ago, when contest entry forms were first available online, to save time checking in at contests, the forms were usually in .doc (word document) or .pdf form. While .pdf created the most accurate printout of the originator's intent, most of us do not have the fancier software that can create or edit (or fill in) a pdf form. That was why the .doc files were nice.
Now, however, some creators are creating the forms in a more modern version of Word that uses the .docx format. They then save it as the default .doc format. Problem is, many of us with older versions of Word or Office cannot open these forms- that newer version of Word is not compatible with the older version :-( However, the creators can, in the newer versions of word, still save a document in the .doc format, so those of us with older versions can then open the document.
Now, some of my friends say, hey, why not get a newer version of Word. The reason is, it is expensive. I could buy several very nice kits for what I would have to spend on yearly subscription to the current Word. My old version works very nicely for anything I need to use a word processor for. Many of the guys who chide me about my outdated version actually do not pay the money themselves anyway- they use a computer at work. Being retired (and living on a reduced income compared to when I worked), I do not have that option. Notice also that Open Office, Apache's free/shareware version of Word, is limited in compatibility of .docx files.
Thus, what I am advocating is that contest registration folks, when they design forms for the online use, consider us older, poorer folk, and simply save the Word files in .doc format. Yeah, I know I can print out the .pdf form and fill it in with pen or pencil, but on forms where you have to fill out one form for each entry, the boilerplate needs to be filled out for each form, being a lot of work if you enter more than a couple of models. And, I have seen poor handwriting create problems at contests when things are misread. I plead guilty myself- in this day and age of computers and keyboards, my penmanship has suffered due to lack of use.