i am creating a choral program file in writer. it is a 2-column format 8.5 X 11 sheet in landscape. it is created with writer but saved as a .doc file for compatibility purposes. when i close and later reopen the file it often has superfluous formatting added in the form of additional blank links and page / column breaks. the contents are generally straight paragraph text and tables. if its any consolation open office does the same thing.
As MSO doesn’t fully support ODF standards, especially in the doc-format, there is always a chance that some formatting can get wrong.
You find a comparison on features and supported file formats here:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Feature_Comparison:LibreOffice-_Microsoft_Office
Our developers do all they can to hit the moving target of MS file format. Therefore, typically - but not necessarily always - the higher the LibO version is the better is the support of MSO formats.
What are alternatives for you?
1 - Upgrade to the highest version of LIbO (currently 4.3.4)
2 - Live with the formatting problems you see
3 - Consider using pdf-formats instead of doc-formats - typically the best solution to avoid doc-format problems.
4 - Consider to convert all members in your group to LIbO as the new common standard - it is free of charge.
What follows are some comments about my experience and ways to avoid problems.
In respect to MSO formats, I stay always until the end in LibO native formats and only create a MSO copy of the last saved version and still try to avoid the x-formats. Additionally I made the experience that a pdf-file is in most of my cases sufficient. Many people send out files in MSO or LibO or other formats when a pdf-file is sufficient. Depending on the situation you can even secure a pdf-file against copying and changes. The pdf-export function in LibO works very well. (I am using 4.3.4.1.)
In the case of presentations I am also often asked to provide a ppt or pptx copy as a fall back solution is something happens with my PC or connection of my own PC is not possible, etc. For this I always carry a USB stick with a portable LibO version on it and my presentation. All I need is PC to plug the USB stick and can run on LIbO my own presentation.