Word document conversion - problem with columns?

I’ve just converted a friend’s computer to Linux and he has started using Writer for his documents. He has a document which he tells me had two columns as a Word document. In Writer the two sides are just aligned with tabs and spaces. Obviously unless he keeps exactly the original page format it turns into a complete mess.

Is the conversion from Word columns to Writer columns a bodge which just spaces out the two halves with spaces and tabs, or is perhaps his memory at fault and he had just used tabs in the Word document?

You posted the same question here. If doing so at all, it is regarded good practice to cross-link the posts.