How can I open my old MacWrite, MacWrite II, and Corel WordPerfect
documents in Mac OS X?

Hello alisoncastle-ga,

This is not going to be easy, especially regarding those MacWrite files:

This program will convert MacWrite II for you:
http://www.dataviz.com/products/maclinkplus/mlp_xlators.html  I found
it mentioned the most in peope having to convert their files. The
program can be purchased here:
http://www.dataviz.com/purchase/buy/maclinkplus/mlp_order_pg1.html It
is the major program mentioned for converting MacWrite II and is a
sure thing.

There is a program called "Quill 2.04" that will open the oldest
MacWrite files, and after extensive searching I found a download of
this program here: http://ftp.actrix.co.nz/macintosh/apps/wp/quill.sit
 Users report mixed results with this program. Apparently it isn't
pretty but does the job.

Regarding WordPerfect, there is a program called Koffice
(http://www.koffice.org) and there is a MacOS X package, but this
requires some fairly advanced skills to install. AbiWord is the major
one mentioned with MacOs X support: http://www.abiword.com/

The commenter below also mentioned this software for MacWrite:
http://www.tex-edit.com/

Please let me know if you require any clarification and I will do my
best to further assist you.

All the best,

tisme-ga


Search Strategy: 

KOffice
openoffice wordperfect
abiword wordperfect
quill.sit
quill macwrite freeware quill.sit
quill macwrite freeware
quill 2.04 freeware
macwrite
macwrite II
-also researched forums and google groups

Thanks for this very helpful information. Since I am now able to open
everything but the MacWrite files, I'm giving this 4 stars.

This should help for the wordperfect docs:
http://www.abiword.com/

And for MacWrite:
http://www.tex-edit.com/

First of all, thanks so much for taking the time to help me! 

I tried Tex-Edit for the MacWrite (both I and II) files but it didn't
recognize them at all. Then I tried Abi Word for the WordPerfect and
either got an error that the files could not be opened or ended up
with a document full of strange characters. I downloaded the Quill
file you linked to, but it unstuffed to a Unix Executable file on my
Mac, so I was unable to use it.

On a positive note, I tried MacLinkPlus and was pleased to find that
it works on everything but original MacWrite files. So it looks like
I'm partway there. I did some more searching and found a post
somewhere stating that Word 5.1 can open MacWrite files, but I did not
have any luck in finding where I can grab a copy of this program!

I just wanted to update for anyone who might be interested: an old
copy of Microsoft Works 3.0 that I have kicking around is able to open
the MacWrite files. Luckily my husband still has a Mac that runs
Classic (unlike my Intel Mac).