StarOffice Writer Document - Legacy (.sdw)

The SDW file extension is linked to StarOffice Writer, a word processing application within the StarOffice suite developed by StarDivision, later acquired by Sun Microsystems. StarOffice was a comprehensive office suite that included applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and more. The SDW format pertains to text documents created using StarOffice Writer versions 5.0 and earlier, containing formatted text, images, tables, and other typical word processing elements. This format was widely used in the late 1990s and early 2000s before being replaced by the SXW format in StarOffice 6.0 and later versions.

StarOffice Writer and the SDW file format played a significant role in the early days of office productivity software, offering a robust alternative to Microsoft Word. SDW files were designed to be compatible with various operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and Solaris. Despite the discontinuation of StarOffice, SDW files can still be opened and edited using modern office suites, which have inherited much of StarOffice's functionality. This backward compatibility ensures that users with legacy SDW documents can still access and modify their files without data loss. The SDW format exemplifies the evolution of office software and the importance of maintaining compatibility with older file formats.