A word processor (more formally known as document preparation system) is a computer

application used for the production (including composition, editing, formatting, and possibly
printing) of any sort of printable material.

Word processor may also refer to a type of stand-alone office machine, popular in the 1970s and
1980s, combining the keyboard text-entry and printing functions of an electric typewriter with a
dedicated processor (like a computer processor) for the editing of text. Although features and
design varied between manufacturers and models, with new features added as technology
advanced, word processors for several years usually featured a monochrome display and the
ability to save documents on memory cards or diskettes. Later models introduced innovations
such as spell-checking programs, increased formatting options, and dot-matrix printing. As the
more versatile combination of a personal computer and separate printer became commonplace,
most business-machine companies stopped manufacturing the word processor as a stand-alone
office machine. As of 2009 there were only two U.S. companies, Classic and AlphaSmart, which
still made stand-alone word processors.[1] Many older machines, however, remain in use.

Word processors are descended from early text formatting tools (sometimes called text
justification tools, from their only real capability). Word processing was one of the earliest
applications for the personal computer in office productivity.

Although early word processors used tag-based markup for document formatting, most modern
word processors take advantage of a graphical user interface providing some form of What You
See Is What You Get editing. Most are powerful systems consisting of one or more programs
that can produce any arbitrary combination of images, graphics and text, the latter handled with
type-setting capability.

Microsoft Word is the most widely used word processing software. Microsoft estimates that over
500,000,000 people use the Microsoft Office suite,[2] which includes Word. Many other word
processing applications exist, including WordPerfect (which dominated the market from the mid-
1980s to early-1990s on computers running Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system) and open
source applications OpenOffice.org Writer, AbiWord, KWord, and LyX. Web-based word
processors, such as Google Docs, are a relatively new category.

Contents
[hide]

 1 Characteristics
 2 Document statistics
 3 Typical usage
o 3.1 Business
o 3.2 Education
o 3.3 Home
 4 History
 5 See also
  6 References
 7 External links

[edit] Characteristics
Word processing typically implies the presence of text manipulation functions that extend
beyond a basic ability to enter and change text, such as automatic generation of:

 batch mailings using a form letter template and an address database (also called mail
merging);
 indices of keywords and their page numbers;
 tables of contents with section titles and their page numbers;
 tables of figures with caption titles and their page numbers;
 cross-referencing with section or page numbers;
 footnote numbering;
 new versions of a document using variables (e.g. model numbers, product names, etc.)

Other word processing functions include "spell checking" (actually checks against wordlists),
"grammar checking" (checks for what seem to be simple grammar errors), and a "thesaurus"
function (finds words with similar or opposite meanings). Other common features include
collaborative editing, comments and annotations, support for images and diagrams and internal
cross-referencing.

Word processors can be distinguished from several other, related forms of software:

Text editors (modern examples of which include Notepad, BBEdit, Kate, Gedit), were the
precursors of word processors. While offering facilities for composing and editing text, they do
not format documents. This can be done by batch document processing systems, starting with TJ-
2 and RUNOFF and still available in such systems as LaTeX (as well as programs that
implement the paged-media extensions to HTML and CSS). Text editors are now used mainly by
programmers, website designers, computer system administrators, and, in the case of LaTeX by
mathematicians and scientists (for complex formulas and for citations in rare languages). They
are also useful when fast startup times, small file sizes, editing speed and simplicity of operation
are preferred over formatting.

Later desktop publishing programs were specifically designed to allow elaborate layout for
publication, but often offered only limited support for editing. Typically, desktop publishing
programs allowed users to import text that was written using a text editor or word processor.

Almost all word processors enable users to employ styles, which are used to automate consistent
formatting of text body, titles, subtitles, highlighted text, and so on.

Styles greatly simplify managing the formatting of large documents, since changing a style
automatically changes all text that the style has been applied to. Even in shorter documents styles
can save a lot of time while formatting. However, most help files refer to styles as an 'advanced
feature' of the word processor, which often discourages users from using styles regularly.

[edit] Document statistics

Most current word processors can calculate various statistics pertaining to a document. These
usually include:

 Character count, word count, sentence count, line count, paragraph count, page count.
 Word, sentence and paragraph length.
 Editing time.

Errors are common; for instance, a dash surrounded by spaces — like either of these — may be
counted as a word.

[edit] Typical usage

Word processors have a variety of uses and applications within the business world, home, and
education.

[edit] Business

Within the business world, word processors are extremely useful tools. Typical uses include:

 legal copies
 letters and letterhead
 memos
 reference documents

Businesses tend to have their own format and style for any of these. Thus, versatile word
processors with layout editing and similar capabilities find widespread use in most businesses.

[edit] Education

Many schools have begun to teach typing and word processing to their students, starting as early
as elementary school. Typically these skills are developed throughout secondary school in
preparation for the business world. Undergraduate students typically spend many hours writing
essays. Graduate and doctoral students continue this trend, as well as creating works for research
and publication.

[edit] Home

While many homes have word processors on their computers, word processing in the home tends
to be educational, planning or business related, dealing with assignments or work being
completed at home, or occasionally recreational, e.g. writing short stories. Some use word
processors for letter writing, résumé creation, and card creation. However, many of these home
publishing processes have been taken over by desktop publishing programs specifically oriented
toward home use. which are better suited to these types of documents.

[edit] History

Toshiba JW-10, the first word processor for the Japanese language (1971-1978 IEEE milestones)

Examples of standalone word processor typefaces c. 1980-1981

Brother WP-1400D editing electronic typewriter (1994)

The term word processing was invented by IBM in the late 1960s. By 1971 it was recognized by
the New York Times as a "buzz word".[3] A 1974 Times article referred to "the brave new world of
Word Processing or W/P. That's International Business Machines talk... I.B.M. introduced W/P
about five years ago for its Magnetic Tape Selectric Typewriter and other electronic razzle-
dazzle."[4]

IBM defined the term in a broad and vague way as "the combination of people, procedures, and
equipment which transforms ideas into printed communications," and originally used it to
include dictating machines and ordinary, manually-operated Selectric typewriters.[5] By the early
seventies, however, the term was generally understood to mean semiautomated typewriters
affording at least some form of electronic editing and correction, and the ability to produce
perfect "originals." Thus, the Times headlined a 1974 Xerox product as a "speedier electronic
typewriter", but went on to describe the product, which had no screen[6], as "a word processor
rather than strictly a typewriter, in that it stores copy on magnetic tape or magnetic cards for
retyping, corrections, and subsequent printout."[7]

Electromechanical paper-tape-based equipment such as the Friden Flexowriter had long been
available; the Flexowriter allowed for operations such as repetitive typing of form letters (with a
pause for the operator to manually type in the variable information)[8], and when equipped with
an auxiliary reader, could perform an early version of "mail merge". Circa 1970 it began to be
feasible to apply electronic computers to office automation tasks. IBM's Mag Tape Selectric
Typewriter (MTST) and later Mag Card Selectric (MCST) were early devices of this kind, which
allowed editing, simple revision, and repetitive typing, with a one-line display for editing single
lines.[9]

The New York Times, reporting on a 1971 business equipment trade show, said

The "buzz word" for this year's show was "word processing," or the use of electronic
equipment, such as typewriters; procedures and trained personnel to maximize office
efficiency. At the IBM exhibition a girl [sic] typed on an electronic typewriter. The copy
was received on a magnetic tape cassette which accepted corrections, deletions, and
additions and then produced a perfect letter for the boss's signature....[3]

In 1971, a third of all working women in the United States were secretaries, and they could see
that word processing would have an impact on their careers. Some manufacturers, according to a
Times article, urged that "the concept of 'word processing' could be the answer to Women's Lib
advocates' prayers. Word processing will replace the 'traditional' secretary and give women new
administrative roles in business and industry."[3]

The 1970s word processing concept did not refer merely to equipment, but, explicitly, to the use
of equipment for "breaking down secretarial labor into distinct components, with some staff
members handling typing exclusively while others supply administrative support. A typical
operation would leave most executives without private secretaries. Instead one secretary would
perform various administrative tasks for three or more secretaries."[10] A 1971 article said that
"Some [secretaries] see W/P as a career ladder into management; others see it as a dead-end into
the automated ghetto; others predict it will lead straight to the picket line." The National
Secretaries Association, which defined secretaries as people who "can assume responsibility
without direct supervision," feared that W/P would transform secretaries into "space-age typing
pools." The article considered only the organizational changes resulting from secretaries
operating word processors rather than typewriters; the possibility that word processors might
result in managers creating documents without the intervention of secretaries was not considered
—not surprising in an era when few but secretaries possessed keyboarding skills.[4]

In the early 1970s, computer scientist Harold Koplow was hired by Wang Laboratories to
program calculators. One of his programs permitted a Wang calculator to interface with an IBM
Selectric typewriter, which was at the time used to calculate and print the paperwork for auto
sales.

In 1974, Koplow's interface program was developed into the Wang 1200 Word Processor, an
IBM Selectric-based text-storage device. The operator of this machine typed text on a
conventional IBM Selectric; when the Return key was pressed, the line of text was stored on a
cassette tape. One cassette held roughly 20 pages of text, and could be "played back" (i.e., the
text retrieved) by printing the contents on continuous-form paper in the 1200 typewriter's "print"
mode. The stored text could also be edited, using keys on a simple, six-key array. Basic editing
functions included Insert, Delete, Skip (character, line), and so on.

The labor and cost savings of this device were immediate, and remarkable: pages of text no
longer had to be retyped to correct simple errors, and projects could be worked on, stored, and
then retrieved for use later on. The rudimentary Wang 1200 machine was the precursor of the
Wang Office Information System (OIS), introduced in 1976, whose CRT-based system was a
major breakthrough in word processing technology. It displayed text on a CRT screen, and
incorporated virtually every fundamental characteristic of word processors as we know them
today. It was a true office machine, affordable by organizations such as medium-sized law firms,
and easily learned and operated by secretarial staff.

The Wang was not the first CRT-based machine nor were all of its innovations unique to Wang.
In the early 1970s Linolex, Lexitron and Vydec introduced pioneering word-processing systems
with CRT display editing. A Canadian electronics company, Automatic Electronic Systems, had
introduced a product with similarities to Wang's product in 1973, but went into bankruptcy a
year later. In 1976, refinanced by the Canada Development Corporation, it returned to operation
as AES Data, and went on to successfully market its brand of word processors worldwide until
its demise in the mid-1980s. Its first office product, the AES-90[11], combined for the first time a
CRT-screen, a floppy-disk and a microprocessor,[citation needed] that is, the very same winning
combination that would be used by IBM for its PC seven years later.[citation needed] The AES-90
software was able to handle French and English typing from the start, displaying and printing the
texts side-by-side, a Canadian government requirement. The first eight units were delivered to
the office of the then Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, in February 1974.[citation needed] Despite
these predecessors, Wang's product was a standout, and by 1978 it had sold more of these
systems than any other vendor.[12]
The phrase "word processor" rapidly came to refer to CRT-based machines similar to Wang's.
Numerous machines of this kind emerged, typically marketed by traditional office-equipment
companies such as IBM, Lanier (marketing AES Data machines, re-badged), CPT, and NBI.[13]
All were specialized, dedicated, proprietary systems, with prices in the $10,000 ballpark. Cheap
general-purpose computers were still the domain of hobbyists.

Some of the earliest CRT-based machines used cassette tapes for removable-memory storage
until floppy diskettes became available for this purpose - first the 8-inch floppy, then the 5-1/4-
inch (drives by Shugart Associates and diskettes by Dysan).

Printing of documents was initially accomplished using IBM Selectric typewriters modified for
ASCII-character input. These were later replaced by application-specific daisy wheel printers
(Diablo, which became a Xerox company, and Qume -- both now defunct.) For quicker "draft"
printing, dot-matrix line printers were optional alternatives with some word processors.

With the rise of personal computers, and in particular the IBM PC and PC compatibles, software-
based word processors running on general-purpose commodity hardware gradually displaced
dedicated word processors, and the term came to refer to software rather than hardware. Some
programs were modeled after particular dedicated WP hardware. MultiMate, for example, was
written for an insurance company that had hundreds of typists using Wang systems, and spread
from there to other Wang customers. To adapt to the smaller, more generic PC keyboard,
MultiMate used stick-on labels and a large plastic clip-on template to remind users of its dozens
of Wang-like functions, using the shift, alt and ctrl keys with the 10 IBM function keys and
many of the alphabet keys.

Other early word-processing software required users to memorize semi-mnemonic key

combinations rather than pressing keys labelled "copy" or "bold." (In fact, many early PCs
lacked cursor keys; WordStar famously used the E-S-D-X-centered "diamond" for cursor
navigation, and modern vi-like editors encourage use of hjkl for navigation.) However, the price
differences between dedicated word processors and general-purpose PCs, and the value added to
the latter by software such as VisiCalc, were so compelling that personal computers and word
processing software soon became serious competition for the dedicated machines. Word Perfect,
XyWrite, Microsoft Word, Wordstar, pfs:Write and dozens of other word processing software
brands competed in the 1980s. Development of higher-resolution monitors allowed them to
provide limited WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get, to the extent that typographical
features like bold and italics, indentation, justification and margins were approximated on screen.

The mid-to-late 1980s saw the spread of laser printers, a "typographic" approach to word
processing, and of true WYSIWYG bitmap displays with multiple fonts (pioneered by the Xerox
Alto computer and Bravo word processing program), PostScript, and graphical user interfaces
(another Xerox PARC innovation, with the Gypsy word processor which was commercialised in
the Xerox Star product range). Standalone word processors adapted by getting smaller and
replacing their CRTs with small character-oriented LCD displays. Some models also had
computer-like features such as floppy disk drives and the ability to output to an external printer.
They also got a name change, now being called "electronic typewriters" and typically occupying
a lower end of the market, selling for under $200 USD.
MacWrite, Microsoft Word and other word processing programs for the bit-mapped Apple
Macintosh screen, introduced in 1984, were probably the first true WYSIWYG word processors
to become known to many people until the introduction of Microsoft Windows. Dedicated word
processors eventually became museum pieces.
Imagine the situation: You’re visiting your parents’ home for the holidays, a thousand miles
from your own PC, when inspiration strikes, a brilliant idea for the next plot twist in your novel!
Or consider: you’re on a business trip and your laptop is stolen — and the proposal you’re
working on is due tomorrow! Or you’re on campus when you remember you have an assignment
due in two hours — and you live an hour away!

Maybe you have a thumb drive you keep your work on; now all you have to do is find a PC that
can read your files, and hope you remembered to backup the files you need right away. But
advances in web technology over the last couple years have given us another way to work from
anywhere, no matter what computer we have access to, as long as we have access to the Internet:
online word processors.

An online word processor gives you the ability to create, edit, save, and access your documents
from anywhere. The best ones also allow you to share documents, track changes and revert to
earlier versions, and collaborate with other writers. Best of all, any reasonably up-to-date
computer can access them, usually without installing anything (some require ActiveX, Flash, or
Java — all of which are already present on most computers).

I’ve been using several online word processors since Writely (now Google Docs) was launched a
while back, and with recent updates to Google Docs and Zoho, and the launch of a few new
ones, I decided to check out the field and see what I might have been missing in the online word
processing world. I was surprised to find 13 different online word processors (and a 14th, still in
testing, that I couldn’t get running) available for free (there are some paid ones out there, but
given the quality of some of the free ones I decided to exclude them from this round-up).

New Kid on the Block: Adobe Buzzword

My favorite, by far, is the newly-launched Buzzword, recently acquired by Adobe. Buzzword
runs in Flash, and I generally hate Flash (in fact, I use the Flashblock extension in FireFox to
disable Flash-based content by default). But Buzzword uses Flash incredibly well, providing a
usable word processor that’s stunningly gorgeous. Look (click any of the screenshots for full-size
views):

Buzzword allows for full formatting, headers and footers, page numbering, endnotes, tables and
images, keyboard shortcuts, and commenting — all the basic word processing functions most
people tend to use. It also offers a running word count, inline spell-checking, and revision history
— great for writers! The menu takes some getting used to; the paragraph, list, image, and table
settings slide into place when you click their icons on the right side of the toolbar.

I do have a few very minor complaints. The first is that the fonts available are Adobe’s own,
beautifully designed but proprietary, typefaces. Which means that chances are they’ll be replaced
with your system’s defaults (Times New Roman and Arial for Windows users) when you
download a document and open it in Word or another word processor. Also, Buzzword doesn’t
give you the ability to export as pdf — strange, considering it’s Adobe. And finally, Adobe
doesn’t say how much storage they’re offering users — though given the small size of text
documents, it doesn’t have to be very much to be useful.

Let me tell you how much I like Buzzword: I started writing a book just so I could play with it
more.

Let me tell you how much I like Buzzword: I started writing a book just so I could play with it
more. I’ve written over 13,000 words — 39 pages — including a nicely formatted title page. It’s
simply a joy to work with, especially with the browser set to full-screen.

The Sleeper Candidate: iNetWord

The big surprise doing this research is that my second-favorite online word processor is one
whose name I’d never heard: iNetWord. In fact, if Buzzword hadn’t just come out, iNetWord
would be at the top of my list. This is a full-featured, complete word processor, with support for
backgrounds, borders, page-numbering, tables, images, the works. It comes with several built-in
templates — for both web tasks like page design and blog posting, and business tasks like faxes
and letters — and is incredibly responsive. It’s tabbed interface is a nice touch, allowing you to
open and work on several documents at the same time. And it’s still in beta!

The Big Three: Google Docs, Zoho Writer, and ThinkFree

Up until now, my “go to” web-based word processor has been Google Docs. I’ve also used Zoho
Writer quite a bit; ThinkFree I’ve stayed away from, not because it isn’t well-done but because it
uses Java, and I’ve never had much luck with Java-based apps. These three are the “big dogs” of
online word processing, and are integrated into online office suites — with spreadsheets,
presentation editors, project managers, contact managers, notebooks, and other goodies — that
make them very compelling.


Google Docs: Formerly Writely, Google Docs was the first online word processor I used
to any significant degree. Like all things Google, it’s interface is clean — maybe too
clean — and it generally just works. Basic formatting is easy, storage space is generous
(though documents are limited in size), and sharing and version control are easy. Because
the underlying code is plain HTML, though, some things are awkward, like multiple
indenting. Still, I’ve created dozens of documents on Google Docs, and have no real
complaints.


Zoho Writer: Even though I use Google Docs much more often, I like Zoho Writer more.
(Go figure out people, huh?) Zoho offers a great interface, and almost every feature a
writer could ask for — page numbering, footnotes, templates, sharing, publishing to web,
export as pdf. They’re also integrating with Box.net, which means I’ll be able to open,
edit, and save documents from and to my Box.net account, which I like.I use Zoho for big
documents, and Google Docs for “quickies” — but I have a lot more of the latter than the
former.


ThinkFree: Java-based ThinkFree is a great editor — once it starts running. The “quick
edit” function, with a limited toolset, is pretty snappy; the “power edit” function (pictured
 above) can take a minute or longer to load. Once loaded, though, it’s essentially Word
2003 , with autocorrect, tables, styles, word count, insert fields, export to pdf —
everything but, as far as I can tell, headers and footers. It picks up the fonts from the PC
it’s running on, which means you get a nice selection; unfortunately text looks pretty
crummy, I assume because it’s running in Java.

All the Rest

Here are the rest of the online word processors I’ve tried out, in alphabetical order. Some of
these are quite good, some have highly specialized uses, and some are not quite ready for full-
time use. Taken together, though, they show the incredible possibility of online applications, and
hopefully provide each other with some healthy competition and incentive to realize that
possibility. Maybe next year one of these will have replaced Buzzword as my new online word
processor of choice– or even as my daily use word processor!


ajaxWrite: With it’s simple interface and clean workspace, you’d think ajaxWrite would
be ideal for quick writing without distractions, and I’d like to think it is.  Unfortunately, I
couldn’t get it to save when running it in FireFox. Other people swear by ajax13’s apps,
though, so I’m assuming it’s just a conflicting extension or something. 


docly: As a word processor, docly is passable — similar in functionality to KB Docs and
GreenDoc, below.  What sets docly apart, though, is its focus on copyright management,
with the ability to assign a work a Creative Commons license or a traditional “All Rights
Reserved” license. Documents can be shared and published, as in most of the other online
services covered here, or they can be offered for sale and accessed through their search
engine.

gOffice: Although gOffice’s main product is a paid suite, and thus excluded from this
round-up, for now at least their iPhone-compatible word processor is available free. Not
the most useful application, as it adds an ad for gOffice when you save, but a unique test-
of-concept, and one I imagine will lead to more useful iPhone applications in the future.


GreenDoc: Basically an online web-page editor, GreenDoc allows you to start writing
and save directly to the web without logging in. Documents stay online for 90 days, or
you can create an account for more permanent storage. The toolset is a standard range of
formatting options, good for basic, no-frills editing.


KB Docs:Another no-frills editor, even more basic than GreenDocs. Distinguished by it’s
easy sign-up — just pick a username and password, hit enter, and you’re editing.
 
Peepel: Part of a full-fledged webtop system, Peepel’s word processor has a pretty good
set of basic options, with some nice templates. The user interface is weird — maybe
“quirky” is a better word: click on the site’s logo to open the menu.


WriteBoard: Created by the good folks at 37Signals, WriteBoard is a bare-bones, wiki-
style editor intended more for collaboration than authoring. Technically I guess this isn’t
a “word processor”, but it’s a decent, bare-bones editor — especially if you’re already
comfortable with wiki formatting codes.


Writer: This one is also not technically a word processor. Writer is a stripped-down
writing environment intended for writers. It offers no formatting, no spell-checking, no
fonts — nothing but green text on a black screen (recalling those TRS-80 days of yore…)
and a word count, so you can write write write until you hit your goal.

The Rookie: Ulteo Offers OpenOffice.org Online

The Next Big Thing might well be Ulteo, which promises the entire OpenOffice.org suite online,
accessible through any browser. I’ve signed up for the beta test, but so far I haven’t been able to
try it out. Being able to access OpenOffice.org anywhere would be a big step — and might just
push Microsoft to finally make it’s Office apps available online. (Or is that not the idea I’m
supposed to get out of their “Microsoft Live Office” product’s name?) The ultimate dream is to
be able to do anything online I can do with computer-based software — and Ulteo, if it works, is a
huge step in that direction.

Last Words
As a writer, a good, solid word processor is my most important tool; as someone who often finds
himself away from home and wanting (or needing) to write, the quality of some of these word
processors is greatly appreciated. I was surprised that my two favorites were brand new to me —
I’m looking forward to giving Buzzword and iNetWord a thorough working-out over the next
few months.

Do you find these applications useful? What online word processor do you use, and why? Have I
missed anything — and, especially, have I missed anything that would replace Buzzword as my
new favorite? (I’m fickle like that — if something else comes along, I’ll move on in a
heartbeat!)