Are documents on a computer separate from a software program like Word? I want to work in Word but plan to switch from an older version to a newer version of Word. Will the conversion change anything on my documents?

A lot depends on what versions your moving from and to. If you use the newer version it may not work on the older version unless you save the document to be compatible. The older one should be able to be read by the newer version without any problems.

Data files are ALWAYS separate from the program that creates them. Word is backwards compatible with files created in older types. If you want to be sure you can use use the files with any version of Word save then as 97-2003 DOC files.