Is there a way to perform a diff on two templates?

Perhaps someone will understand what you mean when you say "perform a diff." I am at a loss.

By "diff" I mean finding the differences between two files. I would like to find out how one of my templates is different from normal.dot.

Not simply. There is not tool in Word for this. Word lets you compare documents but that is usually a comparison of text and formatting.

In Word 2010 the file is normal.dotm. Normal Template in Microsoft Word - How to Open

Only Word can make a normal template. You do not want to take your normal template and copy it or do a SaveAs or try to duplicate it to use as the normal template. You do not want to share a normal template.
Templates in Microsoft Word

Which features are you looking at? Margins, page layout, Styles, AutoText, Keyboard shortcuts, macros?
Moving (Sharing) Customizations in Microsoft Word

I agree. There is no simply involved here.
Over a period of years we have come up with our own standard template vstd-temp.dot or dotm, etc.
The primary area of concern is the difference in fonts and styles that are used, but there are also margin and other differences. I'm trying to determine what all the differences are. I renamed my template to normal.dot on one machine, but this was to meet the needs of a single program that I use that only wants to use "normal".
I am interested in your comment on not sharing a normal template. Why is that?

Generally, in principle, Normal is the base configuration for Word on a given computer.

Generally, in principle, templates are the base configuration for DOCUMENTS.

It is, in principle, a poor idea to mix requirements for a document, with how Word itself is set up for a particular computer. You can deal with specific document needs by way of the template made to create that document. There is really no need to mess with Normal.

That being said, it is true that unfortunately some applications only work with Normal. That is sloppy and poor programming on the part of those applications.

Going back to your original question, there is no way to truly compare the qualities of two templates except by brute force. Even if two templates have, for example, two styles with the same name, there is no way to know if the styles themselves are identical except by testing every single parameter.

This is the consensus among the experienced Word users I know.

The normal template is intended to act as a sort of personal scratch pad and place for the user to make changes to their experience of Word. Anything that could be shared by sharing Word can be shared in other ways, primarily Global Templates. Formatting for particular documents or types of documents is best shared through Workgroup Templates.

Finally, the normal template is the first place trouble shooters go when there is a problem with Word. The inexperienced ones tell users to delete it; the experienced ones to rename it.

On a single computer, if the normal template is shared between different versions of Word at least one of them will be in "compatibility mode" all the time and not have access to full features.

Here is a smattering of what I came up with in Google searching:
normal template Word share

• Set up Word so it works effectively for your team
• Microsoft Support
• Distributing Macros to Other Users
• http://stealthpuppy.com/you-cannot-s...users-in-word/

Thanks for the replies. Going back to our own version and leaving normal alone