I have an app on my Sierra laptop called WordPerfect Viewer (looks like I downloaded it in 2018, I’m not sure if there is a newer version)
And I goggled because I couldn’t remember the name and discovered one called WPD Converter on the app store.
Good luck! WP was one of the very few programs I loved on the Windows side but found difficult on the Mac side. But I still have some keyboard muscle memory from those years of using it.
If you only need to recover the text, Libre Office should be able to open the file. Indeed, it opens almost any word processor file (even the original MacWrite and Write Now).
Thanks, but my tough problem is that I am trying to reconstruct an instructor manual for which I need the messy stuff like equations and formulas.
I mostly agree, in that I spend a lot of my days (retired) hacking on an FPGA project that probably could be done by AI in a couple months (but I mostly refuse to use the current incarnation of AI other than a front-end for search, as it doesn’t live up to the founders goals or mine over much of that timespan: better understanding of human intelligence). I also occasionally enjoy running a 1970s era OS (ITS) on a PiDP-10 recreating the joys that got me into computing in the first place: exploring what’s possible in multiple levels of abstraction.
So the point is, you aren’t stuck using “modern” OSes and machines, other than maybe for surfing and communication. There’s lots of options to run classic machines, OSes and even dive (back) into programming them, and enjoying the blinkin’ lights of yesteryear if you are so inclined!
You reminded me to look up the old notice:
ACHTUNG!
ALLES TURISTEN UND NONTEKNISCHEN LOOKENSPEEPERS!
DAS KOMPUTERMASCHINE IST NICHT FÜR DER GEFINGERPOKEN UND MITTENGRABEN! ODERWISE IST EASY TO SCHNAPPEN DER SPRINGENWERK, BLOWENFUSEN UND POPPENCORKEN MIT SPITZENSPARKEN.
IST NICHT FÜR GEWERKEN BEI DUMMKOPFEN. DER RUBBERNECKEN SIGHTSEEREN KEEPEN DAS COTTONPICKEN HÄNDER IN DAS POCKETS MUSS.
ZO RELAXEN UND WATSCHEN DER BLINKENLICHTEN.
Updated, courtesy of Google Gemini…
ACHTUNG!
ALLES USEREN UND CHATBOT-LOOKENSPEEPERS!
DAS KÜNSTLICHE INTELLIGENZ-MASCHINE IST NICHT PERFECT IN DER BRAINWERK! ODERWISE IST EASY TO FABRICATEN DER FAKE-FACTEN, BLOWEN-FICTION, UND GENERATEN DER TOTALEN QUACKSALVER MIT HIGH-CONFIDENCEN SPITZENSPARKEN.
IST NICHT FÜR BLIND-TRUSTEN BEI DUMMKOPFEN. DER GULLIBLE SEARCHEREN MUSS DOUBLE-CHECKEN DER DATEN IN DAS WIKIPEDIEN.
ZO RELAXEN, TAKE DER OUTPUTEN WITH EIN GRAIN OF SALTEN, UND WATSCHEN DER BLINKENLICHTEN.
I was thinking about this Topic today, and just wanted to express my thanks that there are brains in this world who understand programming and also have a sense of fun.
Even decades ago, the closest I got to programming was doing some sites in early html. Working in Terminal and various languages was of interest to me but always over my head. So to those of you who can do this: you have my respect and gratitude!
Hmm…From my perspective, computers were fun when I was growing up with a Commodore 64 and building DOS and Windows PCs….it was fun exploring, tinkering, discovering the limits of what you could do. (Anybody else cut a notch in a floppy disk to double the capacity?) Of course, as a kid, I had time to deal with things not working, hardware/motherboard/driver incompatibility issues, etc. As an adult, I just need things to work so I can get on with life. At some point, PCs really just become kind of boring–they were tools to do stuff with, whether for work or fun (more work and less fun with age), but the computers themselves where kind of boring.
But then I got a MacBook Air (my first Mac) a couple of years ago, and for the first time in 20 years, computers were fun again! I love my MacBook Air. I feel like it makes the computer experience what it was always meant to be. It is like the perfect marriage of the convenience and all day battery life of an iPhone with the power of a computer. For the first time ever I could stop thinking about battery life, I didn’t have to think about standby vs hibernation, I didn’t have to deal with unwanted reboots, didn’t have to deal with the laptop getting hot or the fans revving up. My MacBook Air is always ready to use–just open the laptop, use it, then close the lid when ready to do something else and repeat, and charge it occasionally. It even has Vehicle Motion Cues to make it easier to work in the car while someone else is driving! And the stability of the Mac and the way I can seamlessly integrate everything across my Mac, iPhone, and iPad are really phenomenal.
I get that maybe macOS isn’t as great as it used to be in some respects. (I do kind of prefer Sonoma to Tahoe myself.) But for someone who lived in Windows world, switching to Mac has been an amazing experience! … (As an aside, I think the MacBook Neo will do wonders for Mac adoption. I thought people who used Macs were kind of weird–why would you want one of those weird alternate computers? I never appreciated Macs until I actually bought one.)
I really can’t see myself ever going back to Windows for my personal devices. (I still use Windows at work because I have to.) Even though Apple Silicone Macs are the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of ability to customize/tinker (i.e., configure at purchase, no RAM or storage upgrades later), I’m more than willing to give that up for the overall incredible experience of battery life, stability, and seamless connection between my computers, phone, and tablet.
I go back to the Apple II days of very expensive computing. And notching the other side of floppies. But I truly enjoyed the experience. So much so that I now spend a good portion of time using Virtual ][, an excellent Apple II emulator for the Mac. You can open all kinds of disc images containing all the old applications, games, anything. It even emulates the grinding sound of the Apple external disc drives! 
