Word processor program

This article is about the computer program. For stand-alone word processing machines, see Word processor (electronic device). For the general concept, see Word processor.

A word processor program is an application program that provides word processing functions. The most basic of them include input, editing, formatting, and output of rich text.

A document being edited in the LibreOffice word processor

Word processor programs running on general purpose computers, including smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers.

The functions of a word processor program are typically between those of a simple text editor and a desktop publishing program; Many word processing programs have gained advanced features over time providing similar functionality to desktop publishing programs.^[1][2][3]

Common word processor programs include LibreOffice Writer, Google Docs and Microsoft Word.

History

The first known electronic word processor program was Electric Pencil, released in 1976, as a tool for programmers to write documentation and manuals for their code. Electric pencil featured basic formatting and navigation, and supported external devices such as cassette recorders and printers. Electric Pencil II was released shortly after, targeting the CP/M operating system. Several other word processing programs were released shortly after, including EasyWriter and WordStar.^[4]

A screenshot of WordStar 3.0 in use

WordStar was created in four months by Seymour Rubinstein after founding MicroPro International in 1978. WordStar is commonly attributed as the first WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor, as the WordStar editor replicated the printed output.

Inspired by the success of WordStar by 1982 many competitors began to release their offerings,^[5] including WordPerfect in 1979, MultiMate in 1982, and Microsoft Word in 1983.^[4][6]

List of word processor programs

Notable programs include:

List of word processor programs

Word processor	Year
Electric Pencil	1976
WordStar	1978
WordPerfect	1979
EasyWriter	1979
IBM DisplayWrite	1981
MultiMate	1982
Volkswriter	1982
Microsoft Word	1983
MacWrite	1984
StarWriter	1985
Lotus Manuscript	1986
TextMaker	1987
Sprint	1987
IBM Lotus Word Pro	1988
Nisus Writer	1989
InPage	1994
WordPad	1995
TextEdit	1996
Ability Write	1996
KWord	1998
AbiWord	1998
Adobe InCopy	1999
Atlantis Word Processor	2000
Jarte	2001
OpenOffice.org Writer	2002
Pages	2005
JWPce	2005
Google Docs	2006
Scrivener	2007
WordGrinder	2007
PolyEdit	2010
LibreOffice Writer	2011
Apache OpenOffice Writer	2012
Calligra Words	2012
Collabora Online	2016

A word processing function is an essential part of an office suite, for example Writer in LibreOffice and Word in Microsoft Office. With the emergence of the internet, cloud-based word processor programs emerged, such as Google Docs enabling people to more easily work remotely and collaboratively. Later on other online word processors such as Microsoft Office on the web and Collabora Online became available.

See also

• Word processor
• Word processor (electronic device)