Cannot make Print Layout view use the facing/mirror page layout even when "zoomed" to multiple pages

Hmm...  "Never"...  Its a very long time.  I seem to recall having a conversation with the MVP of OneNote (at the time) shortly after its release about the undeniable fact that OneNote _was_ a part of Office, that it _would_ and _must_ be a part of Office.  He disagreed, saying something like, "it never will be"...  *Pfft*

Every other word processor has this feature.  It makes perfect sense that for pages with this layout, that the reading view, at the very least, respects this layout.  The name "Print Preview Edit Mode" is entirely misleading since its not an "edit mode" of any sort.  I shouldn't be surprised.

I have now also run into issues with Office 365 Word not converting/importing an old format .doc file correctly, completely ruining all of the paragraph spacing in a very odd manner, with the last lines of paragraphs disappearing off the side of the page.  Trying to manually correct the problems resulted in pages disappearing until I could bring them back by changing the paragraph spacing twice (because it seemed to think there was none even though there was) and then, finally, the program crashing when I tried to fix the problems in the footers.  Of course, the "rescued" document is the version before I made the conversion and at least an hour old (despite having auto save on every 10 minutes as per the default setting).  Word also refuses to import an .odt version of the file correctly in what appears to me as deliberately incorrect.

I was hoping to find a means of resolving the issues I was having with LibreOffice/OpenOffice by purchasing MS Office and using Word.  Unfortunately, it seems that it has just as many problems and a whole host of other crippling side-effects of having been constructed by a company somewhat renowned for introverted short-sightedness and a lack of willingness to participate in (without controlling) open standards.

Given these problems, I may have to investigate further as to whether or not this program is actually fit for the purposes specified and whether or not it is of acceptable quality at all.

Daniel.

The name "Print Preview Edit Mode" is entirely misleading since its not an "edit mode" of any sort. 

Actually, you can edit the document in this view if you turn off the Magnifier (by clearing its check box in the Preview group on the Print Preview tab). The advantage of this view is that it not only displays facing pages but also displays the empty even pages that can be created by using Odd Page section breaks.

Note that it is not necessary to convert .doc files to open them. You can certainly open and edit them in Compatibility Mode and save them in the original .doc format. It's only if you want to use Word 2013's new features that you need to convert them.

Oh dear.  In this "preview edit mode" all of the tabs (menus) are no longer available on the ribbon.

The program is quite obviously capable of rendering and maintaining a view of the document in this style for this layout.  I really don't understand why you have found it necessary to hide it in this way and cripple its functionality.  

The only way to access styles and editing tools of any sort in this mode seems to be via the popup toolbar which I so far in my experience, despise.  IMHO it is a hack to work around the fact that you can't have multiple "menus" open on the "ribbon" so you can't have these tools and others visible like you could with toolbars.  It is always in the way of the real popup menu and what I want is a "side bar" with a list of the styles and perhaps a few tools which is always present or just... toolbars.  You'd think it was complicated.

Oh!  I managed to find "Styles" and the "Style Inspector" after wading through all of the commands with crossed fingers and some guessing.  Of course if the program used normal menus, I'd find it under "View | Toolbars" right away, most likely.  Or if some replication of standard features of applications was made by the "ribbon"...  What is the official name for these "side bars", anyway?  How do I get more of them so I can have multiple editing tools open at once instead of this brain-dead swapping about with the ribbon?

Hmm..  And of course, since all of the tools are no longer available in this "preview edit mode", neither are these "side bars"...  This "preview edit mode" is not a solution to my problem but part of a work-around.

No, its not "necessary" to convert documents but I wouldn't have expected such bizarre behaviour from the program if I did.  Especially not crashing while editing a footer in an attempt to reverse a change that program made which even it didn't understand properly.

Honestly, its giving me a headache working with Word now.  If you are any sort of "power user" you will find this interface an incredible hindrance.  Something like having a block of concrete chained to you, then being thrown overboard.  The target users must be monkeys, intellectually challenged or managers.  "I'm Guybrush Threepwood and I can hold my breath for 10 minutes!"  *Ugh*

Daniel.

The program is quite obviously capable of rendering and maintaining a view of the document in this style for this layout.  I really don't understand why you have found it necessary to hide it in this way and cripple its functionality.  

I have not done anything to Word. Keep in mind you're not talking to Microsoft here--just other users. What you do have available in Print Preview Edit Mode is the Quick Access Toolbar, not to mention keyboard shortcuts. But you're not really intended to be doing heavy editing in this view, just touch-ups (correcting typos, etc.) and formatting that can be done with keyboard shortcuts.