To get OpenOffice to Save in Microsoft Word .doc format by default, follow these steps:
- Tools > Options
- Load/Save > General
- In the bottom right of the window, look for “Always save as” and pick your poison 😉
I know that saving in a proprietary format over an open standard is bad practice, but sometimes in Business you need to maintain interoperability with the de facto standard; in this case: Microsoft Word.
Did you know that you can do the same for OpenOffice Calc (Excel format) http://plan-b-for-openoffice.org/calc/topic/set-default-file-format-to-ms-excel, and Impress (PowerPoint format) http://plan-b-for-openoffice.org/impress/topic/set-default-file-format-to-ms-powerpoint.
Besides the same instructions work for LibreOffice too.