Editing Microsoft Word (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Microsoft Word}}
[[File:Microsoft Word logo (2013-2019).png|thumb|100px|Logo from 2013-2019]]
[[File:Office Word 2007 logo.svg|thumb|100px|Logo from 2007-2010]]
[[File:Microsoft Office Word (2000–03).svg|thumb|100px|Logo from 2003-2007]]
[[File:Word 1.0.png|thumb|Microsoft Word 1.0 for DOS (1983) (using a black background, using font "IBM BIOS-2y")]]
In 1981, Microsoft hired [[Charles Simonyi]], the primary developer of [[Bravo (software)|Bravo]], the first [[GUI]] [[word processor]], which was developed at [[PARC (company)|Xerox PARC]].<ref name="pcworld_word25">{{cite news | url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/152585/microsoft_word_turns_25.html | title=Microsoft Word Turns 25 | last=Edwards | first=Benj | work=PC World | date=October 22, 2008 | access-date=November 7, 2010 | archive-date=July 4, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704162738/http://www.pcworld.com/article/152585/microsoft_word_turns_25.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> Simonyi started work on a word processor called ''Multi-Tool Word'' and soon hired [[Richard Brodie (programmer)|Richard Brodie]], a former Xerox intern, who became the primary software engineer.<ref name="pcworld_word25"/><ref>{{Cite book | title=Microsoft First Generation | first=Cheryl | last=Tsang | year=1999 | publisher=John Wiley & Sons | isbn=978-0-471-33206-0 | url=https://archive.org/details/microsoftfirstge00cher }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://blogs.msdn.com/rick_schaut/archive/2004/05/19/135315.aspx | title=Anatomy of a Software Bug | first=Rick | last=Schaut | date=May 19, 2004 | work=MSDN Blogs | access-date=December 2, 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201040227/http://blogs.msdn.com/rick_schaut/archive/2004/05/19/135315.aspx | archive-date=February 1, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Microsoft announced Multi-Tool Word for [[Xenix]]<ref name="pcworld_word25"/> and MS-DOS in 1983.<ref name="infoworld_multi-tool_word">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4S8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10 | title=Mouse and new WP program join Microsoft product lineup | last=Markoff | first=John | work=InfoWorld | date=May 30, 1983 | page=10 | access-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref> Its name was soon simplified to ''Microsoft Word''.<ref name="PCHistory" /> Free demonstration copies of the application were bundled with the November 1983 issue of ''[[PC World]]'', making it the first to be distributed on-disk with a [[magazine]].<ref name="PCHistory" /><ref name="NYTimes19930825">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/25/business/technologyandrew-pollack-computerizing-magazines.html | title=Computerizing Magazines | work=The New York Times | date=August 25, 1983 | access-date=April 24, 2013 | last=Pollack | first=Andrew | archive-date=May 12, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512095456/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/25/business/technologyandrew-pollack-computerizing-magazines.html | url-status=live }}</ref> That year Microsoft demonstrated Word running on [[Windows]].<ref name="lemmons198312">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1983-12/1983_12_BYTE_08-12_Easy_Software#page/n49/mode/2up | title=Microsoft Windows | work=BYTE | date=December 1983 | access-date=October 20, 2013 | author=Lemmons, Phil | pages=48}}</ref>

Unlike most [[MS-DOS]] programs at the time, Microsoft Word was designed to be used with a mouse.<ref name="infoworld_multi-tool_word"/> Advertisements depicted the [[Microsoft Mouse]] and described Word as a [[WYSIWYG]], windowed word processor with the ability to [[undo]] and display bold, italic, and underlined text,<ref name="byte198312">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1983-12/1983_12_BYTE_08-12_Easy_Software#page/n89/mode/2up | title=Undo. Windows. Mouse. Finally. | work=BYTE | date=December 1983 | access-date=October 20, 2013 | author=Advertisement | pages=88–89}}</ref> although it could not render [[font]]s.<ref name="PCHistory"/> It was not initially popular, since its user interface was different from the leading word processor at the time, [[WordStar]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Peterson|first=W.E. Pete|title=Almost Perfect: How a Bunch of Regular Guys Built Wordperfect Corporation|year=1994|publisher=Prima Publishing|isbn=0-7881-9991-9}}</ref> However, Microsoft steadily improved the product, releasing versions 2.0 through 5.0 over the next six years. In 1985, Microsoft [[Porting|ported]] Word to the [[classic Mac OS]] (known as Macintosh System Software at the time). This was made easier by Word for DOS having been designed for use with high-resolution displays and laser printers, even though none were yet available to the general public.<ref name="lowendmac_history">{{cite news | url=http://lowendmac.com/2013/microsoft-word-for-mac-faq/ | title=Microsoft Word for Mac History | last=Knight | first=Dan | work=Low End Mac | date=May 22, 2008 | access-date=November 7, 2010 | archive-date=July 21, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721044510/http://lowendmac.com/2013/microsoft-word-for-mac-faq/ | url-status=live }}</ref> It was also notable for its very fast cut-and-paste function and unlimited number of undo operations, which are due to its usage of the [[piece table]] data structure.<ref>{{cite news | title=The Piece Table | url=https://darrenburns.net/posts/piece-table/ | access-date=October 25, 2020 | archive-date=November 12, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112021307/https://darrenburns.net/posts/piece-table/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the precedents of LisaWrite and MacWrite, Word for Mac OS added true [[WYSIWYG]] features. It fulfilled a need for a word processor that was more capable than [[MacWrite]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog_for_1986_1985_Point/Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog_for_1986_1985_Point_djvu.txt|title=Whole Earth Software Catalog|year=1989 |isbn=9780385233019 |quote=For a year, I waited for a heavier-duty word processor than MACWRITE. I finally got it— WORD.|last1=Brand |first1=Stewart |publisher=Quantum Press/Doubleday }}</ref> After its release, Word for Mac OS's sales were higher than its MS-DOS counterpart for at least four years.<ref name="pcworld_word25"/>

The second release of Word for Mac OS, shipped in 1987, was named Word 3.0 to synchronize its version number with Word for DOS; this was Microsoft's first attempt to synchronize version numbers across platforms. Word 3.0 included numerous internal enhancements and new features, including the first implementation of the [[Rich Text Format]] (RTF) specification, but was plagued with bugs. Within a few months, Word 3.0 was superseded by a more stable Word 3.01, which was mailed free to all registered users of 3.0.<ref name="lowendmac_history"/> After MacWrite Pro was discontinued in the mid-1990s, Word for Mac OS never had any serious rivals. Word 5.1 for Mac OS, released in 1992, was a very popular word processor owing to its elegance, relative ease of use, and feature set. Many users say it is the best version of Word for Mac OS ever created.<ref name="lowendmac_history"/><ref name="msdn_macword6">{{cite web | url=http://blogs.msdn.com/rick_schaut/archive/2004/02/26/80193.aspx | title=Mac Word 6.0 | work=Buggin' My Life Away | publisher=MSDN Blogs | last=Schaut | first=Rick | date=February 26, 2004 | access-date=June 21, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040514091238/http://blogs.msdn.com/rick_schaut/archive/2004/02/26/80193.aspx | archive-date=May 14, 2004 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1986, an agreement between [[Atari]] and Microsoft brought Word to the [[Atari ST]]<ref name="Microsoft Write for Atari ST">{{cite web |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue77/News_Products.php?tag= |title=Atari announces agreement with Microsoft |publisher=Atarimagazines.com |date=April 25, 2008 |access-date=June 21, 2010 |archive-date=June 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618010538/http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue77/News_Products.php?tag= |url-status=live }}</ref> under the name ''[[Microsoft Write]]''. The Atari ST version was a port of Word 1.05 for the Mac OS<ref name="Microsoft Write for Atari ST review">{{cite web |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/startv3n1/microsoftwrite.html |title=Feature Review: Microsoft Write |publisher=Atarimagazines.com |date=April 25, 2008 |access-date=June 21, 2010 |archive-date=May 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528150414/http://atarimagazines.com/startv3n1/microsoftwrite.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Microsoft Word for Atari ST">{{cite web |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/v5n11/ataricorp.html |title=Today's Atari Corp.: A close up look inside |publisher=Atarimagazines.com |date=April 25, 2008 |access-date=June 21, 2010 |archive-date=January 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119223108/http://www.atarimagazines.com/v5n11/ataricorp.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and was never updated.

The first version of Word for Windows was released in 1989. With the release of [[Windows 3.0]] the following year, sales began to pick up and Microsoft soon became the market leader for word processors for [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC-compatible computers]].<ref name="pcworld_word25"/> In 1991, Microsoft capitalized on Word for Windows' increasing popularity by releasing a version of Word for DOS, version 5.5, that replaced its unique user interface with an interface similar to a Windows application.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA151 | title=First Look: Microsoft Updates Look of And Adds Pull-Down Menus to Character-Based Word 5.5 | last=Miller | first=Michael J. | work=InfoWorld | date=November 12, 1990 | page=151 | access-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wFAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA108 | title=Microsoft Word 5.5: Should You Fight or Switch? | last=Needleman | first=Raphael | work=InfoWorld | date=November 19, 1990 | page=106 | access-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref> When Microsoft became aware of the [[Year 2000 problem]], it made Microsoft Word 5.5 for DOS available for free downloads. {{As of|2021|February}}, it is still available for download from Microsoft's website.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://download.microsoft.com/download/word97win/Wd55_be/97/WIN98/EN-US/Wd55_ben.exe | title=Microsoft Word 5.5 for MS-DOS (EXE format) | work=Microsoft Download Center | access-date=August 19, 2011 | archive-date=June 29, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629172129/http://download.microsoft.com/download/word97win/Wd55_be/97/WIN98/EN-US/Wd55_ben.exe | url-status=live }}</ref>
In 1991, Microsoft embarked on a project code-named Pyramid to completely rewrite Microsoft Word from the ground up. Both the Windows and Mac OS versions would start from the same code base. It was abandoned when it was determined that it would take the development team too long to rewrite and then catch up with all the new capabilities that could have been added at the same time without a rewrite. Instead, the next versions of Word for Windows and Mac OS, dubbed version 6.0, both started from the code base of Word for Windows 2.0.<ref name="msdn_macword6"/>

With the release of Word 6.0 in 1993, Microsoft again attempted to synchronize the version numbers and coordinate product naming across platforms, this time across DOS, Mac OS, and Windows (this was the last version of Word for DOS). It introduced AutoCorrect, which automatically fixed certain typing errors, and AutoFormat, which could reformat many parts of a document at once. While the Windows version received favorable reviews (e.g., from ''InfoWorld''<ref name="infoworld_word6">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6DoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA66 | title=War of the Words | work=InfoWorld | date=February 7, 1994 | pages=66–79 | access-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref>), the Mac OS version was widely derided. Many accused it of being slow, clumsy, and memory intensive, and its user interface differed significantly from Word 5.1.<ref name="msdn_macword6"/> In response to user requests, Microsoft offered Word 5 again, after it had been discontinued.<ref name="ugeek_97">{{cite web | url=http://www.geek.com/hwswrev/off98mac.htm | title=UGeek Software Review: Microsoft Office 98 Gold for Macintosh | last=Lockman | first=James T.W. | date=May 15, 1998 | access-date=November 7, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203220342/http://www.geek.com/hwswrev/off98mac.htm | archive-date=December 3, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Subsequent versions of Word for macOS are no longer direct ports of Word for Windows, instead featuring a mixture of ported code and native code.