convert .docs into pdf, rtf or open office format
A free online service is available from the city of Pisa: DocTransformer will convert MS Office .doc files into your choice of .pdf, .rtf or .ssx open office formats. The page is in Italian, but Robin Goode provides a clear and simple walk-through of the steps.
A quick test of a .doc (with images and text, no special formatting) successfully converted the file into a .pdf, though it resulted in a document with 2 more pages than the original. If you need exactly 1 to 1 conversion, you might have to do more testing to get it right. For a quick, free and online solution that does not require you to have Word installed on your computer, however, this service could come in handy. Grazie Pisa!