My friend created a doc in a newer version of Lyx on her Mac. When I try to open this doc on my version of Lyx on my Mac, I get the error "[filename] is from a newer version of LyX and the lyx2lyx script failed to convert it."
I am not eager to update my version of Lyx because I'm worried all my older files won't be readable. But perhaps reading older files is fine, it's just reading newer files that doesn't work.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, N
The last version of a LyX major release can open files from the next LyX version. So LyX 2.0.8 can open LyX 2.1.x files. That might be a reasonable choice for you to make. If you do this, you should install 2.0.8.1. Upgrading from 2.a.x to 2.a.y, where y > x, will not give you any features or change any core thing in LyX (like the file format) but will give you bug fixes. The Mac download for 2.0.8.1 is here: ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/bin/2.0.8.1/LyX-2.0.8.1-B+qt4-carbon.dmg
You are right to be concerned about upgrading LyX versions. Upgrades bring features but also possibly bugs so it is good to be careful. However, when you are at a good point in your work you should consider upgrading from time to time. LyX can usually open older files in newer versions of LyX. There are some problems (if you find one, please report a bug), but most of the time it works. Although I use Linux, I imagine Mac is similar in that if you do not like the new version of a software it's very easy to reinstall the older version. Also I don't know for Mac, but on Linux it's straightforward to have parallel installs of multiple versions in a way that neither affects the other. I have 2.0.8.1, 2.1.2, and 2.2dev all installed.
If you and your friend are going to be trading files a lot (e.g. several revisions), I would recommend installing 2.1.3, which will be released in a week or two.
When posting about software, please always state their versions. Thanks for stating the OS, that's important too.
