OldFileToNew

A small macOS universal app that converts old documents to modern formats, built on the same open-source libraries as — and inspired by — the Intel-only anyOSX by Laurent Alonso (https://sourceforge.net/projects/libmwaw/files/).

Drag one or more legacy files onto the OldFileToNew window (or use File ▸ Open…) and each is converted and saved next to the original — no need to identify the file type; it's detected automatically.

⬇ Download OldFileToNew 1.0 — notarized, universal, macOS 12+. Or build it from source.

By default it writes OpenDocument files (.odt, .ods, .odp, .odg), which open in LibreOffice, Microsoft Office, Apple's iWork apps, and most modern software. In Settings… you can pick more familiar per-category output formats (Word, RTF, HTML, plain text via macOS's built-in tools; Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, or images if you have the free LibreOffice installed), and set the input text encoding.

It is universal (Apple Silicon + Intel) and links only system libraries — no runtime dependencies.

Supported formats

OldFileToNew is built on the libwpd / writerperfect family of import libraries, giving it wide coverage across four eras of software:

Category	Reads (examples)
Word processors	MacWrite, WriteNow, Nisus, Word for Mac 1–5.1, ClarisWorks/AppleWorks, WordPerfect, Microsoft Works, AbiWord, StarOffice, iWork Pages
Spreadsheets	ClarisWorks/AppleWorks, Microsoft Works, iWork Numbers, (Lotus/Quattro via libwps)
Presentations	PowerPoint for Mac 1–4, iWork Keynote
Drawings & layout	MacDraw and other classic Mac drawing apps, CorelDRAW, Visio, Publisher, QuarkXPress, PageMaker, FreeHand, Zoner Draw

Plus various e-book formats. A full, per-application list is in the app's Help window. (Old Mac Excel is not currently supported.)

Build it yourself

Everything needed to build the whole project from source — the 15 import libraries, the wpft2odf converter, and the app — is in build-from-source/, as five numbered scripts with a README. Short version:

brew install autoconf automake libtool pkg-config gettext boost icu4c
cd build-from-source && ./01-fetch.sh && ./02-build-base.sh && \
  ./03-build-importers.sh && ./04-build-writerperfect.sh && ./05-build-app.sh

The result, build/OldFileToNew.app, is ad-hoc (locally) codesigned. To distribute it, use your own Developer ID with sign-and-notarize.sh.

Repository layout

• Sources/OldFileToNew/ — the Swift/AppKit app (no third-party Swift dependencies).
• Info.plist, make_app.sh, sign-and-notarize.sh — packaging & signing.
• Icons/ — icon source art (SVG + Icon Composer .icon); Assets.car (Liquid Glass) and OldFileToNew.icns (classic fallback) are under Sources/.../Resources/.
• build-from-source/ — the from-scratch build scripts.
• The bundled wpft2odf binary is not checked in; it is produced by the build.

Credits & licensing

Built on the excellent open-source work of the libwpd / writerperfect project, including libmwaw by Laurent Alonso (whose supported-formats catalog informed the Help page).

Component licenses: librevenge, libwpd, libwpg, libodfgen, writerperfect, libmwaw, libwps, libstaroffice, libpagemaker, libabw, libetonyek, libfreehand, libcdr, libmspub, libqxp, libvisio, libzmf, libe-book are LGPL 2.1+ / MPL 2.0; lcms2, mdds, glm are MIT; libpng uses the PNG license.

libwpd is a fork with added WP6 cross-reference and WP5 page-numbering import support: https://github.com/emendelson/libwpd/tree/oldfiletonew.

Because the app links this LGPL code statically, this repository — source plus the build scripts that let anyone rebuild and relink it — is provided to satisfy the LGPL. The Swift application code is © Edward Mendelson.