MS Word 2003

[Michael Müller]

we still depend on Word 2003 with "Custom XML", our travel guide authors all must work with them. Most of this folk has already a new Word version on their computer, that is why we have to "pack" Word 2003 with our macros to work parallel with other Word versions.

We managed to pack Word 2003 into a MSIX package, but we cannot get the macros running. There is a problem with %appdata%" - Word has no rights for this VFS, and we don't have much clue about these complicated scenarios.
Anybody around how could help us to find a solution?

Michael Müller

[#2]

Hi @Michael Müller 

Have you tried using PSF (Package Support Framework) for handling file access redirections?

If you don't know what that is here is an introduction to PSF that I wrote about in 2020.

Also, we recently released a new version of Advanced Installer that for some cases it applies PSF fixups automatically, as shown in the video from the linked article. 

Office is a mammoth, so PSF might not be enough for what you need, but if you have the time, give it a try.

[#3]

Hi @Michael Müller, Windows and Office are working hard to enable M365 Apps (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Excel) to be packaged and delivered in MSIX format with the same full extensibility that customer enjoy in Click-to-Run and MSI; we’ll communicate details and timelines as these become available. I would suggest going to the Office 365 - Microsoft Tech Community to get guidance on how to upgrade to a supported Office version which fulfills your  “custom XML” usage.