As the one who has put the query to the list first, I must apologise for
not having posted a summary at all. A number of academic and
administrative tasks has kept me from fully exploring the solutions posted
in response to my query. The StarOffice solution appears to be the best in
my case too, as I can transform the Word files inside Linux and send them
back into Windows by ftp. However, I have not tested whether this leads to
any problems when these files are loaded into Wordsmith for manipulation,
which is the ultimate goal of the operation. Other solutions posted led to
problems which are most likely to be the result of my impossibility to
dedicate enough working hours to adjust them properly. I am presently away
from my usual workplace and such impossibility remains true. If, in the
future, anything worth adding to Philip's thorough investigation comes up,
I will post it to the list. Apologies again.
Marco Rocha