A word-processing program helps you write and edit sentences and paragraphs. Whatever you're writing and editing (such as a business letter, report, magazine article, or book) is called the document.
Remember that a word-processing program is mainly for manipulating sentences and paragraphs. To manipulate pretty drawings, get a graphics program instead; to manipulate a table of numbers, get a spreadsheet program; to manipulate a list of names (such as a list of your customers), get a database program.
To use a word-processing program, put your fingers on the keyboard, then type the paragraphs that make up your document, so they appear on the screen. Edit them by using special keys on the keyboard. Finally, make the computer send the document to the printer, so the document appears on paper. You can also make the computer copy the document onto a disk, which will store the document for many years.
How ``word processing'' was invented
Back in the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's, computers were used mainly to manipulate lists of numbers, names, and addresses. Since those manipulations were called data-processing (DP), the typical computing center was called a data-processing center (DP center). It was run by a team of programmers and administrators called the data-processing department (DP department).
Those old computer systems were usually expensive, unreliable, and complex. They needed big staffs to provide continuous repairs, reprogramming, and supervision. They were bureaucratic and technological nightmares. The term ``data-processing'' got a bad reputation.
Secretaries who wanted to write and edit reports preferred to use simple typewriters, rather than deal with the dreaded ``data-processing department''.
When easy-to-use word-processing programs were finally invented for computers, secretaries were afraid to try them because computers had developed a scary reputation. The last thing a secretary wanted was a desktop computer, which the secretary figured would mean ``desktop trouble''.
That's why the term ``word-processing'' was invented. Wang, IBM, and other manufacturers said to the secretaries, ``We know you don't like computers and data-processing equipment. But don't worry: the machines we want to put on your desks are not computers; they're just souped-up typewriters. You like typewriters, right? Then you'll like these cute little machines also. We call them word processors. Don't worry: they're not data-processing equipment; they're not computers.''
The manufacturers were lying: their desktop machines were computers. To pretend they weren't computers, the manufacturers called them word processors and omitted any software dealing with numbers or lists.
The trick worked: secretaries acquired word processors, especially the Wang Word Processor and the IBM Displaywriter.
Today's secretaries are less afraid of computers, know how to handle IBM PC clones, and run word-processing programs on them.
Three definitions of ``word processor''
Strictly speaking, a ``word processor'' means ``a computer whose main purpose is to do word processing''. But some folks use the term ``word processor'' to mean ``a word-processing program'' or ``a typist doing word processing''.
In ads, a ``$500 word processor'' is a machine; a ``$200 word processor'' is a program you feed to a computer; a ``$12-per-hour word processor'' is a typist who understands word processing.
Which program to buy
Which word-processing program should you buy? The answer depends on your personal needs and desires. Here are the major competitors. . . .
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is the fanciest word-processing program. You'll be amazed at all the fancy tricks it can perform!
It's available for the Mac and the IBM PC.
Nearly all Mac users use Microsoft Word. It's become the standard in the Mac community.
If you have an IBM PC, you can buy either a DOS version or a Windows version of Microsoft Word. The Windows version runs better. The DOS version should be ignored.
Though the Windows version is officially called ``Microsoft Word for Windows'', it's nicknamed Winword. The newest versions, Winword 6c (for Windows 3.1) and Winword 7 (for Windows 95), eliminate the errors that occurred in version 6, and they're called ``the best word-processing program'' by nearly all the IBM and Windows magazines.
But though versions 6c and 7 get glowing reviews, they run well just if your computer is modern: a 486 or Pentium, with a big hard disk and at least 8 megabytes of RAM.
If your computer is just a a 386, versions 6c and 7 run too slowly. If your computer has just 4 megabytes of RAM instead of 8, versions 6c and 7 try to make 4 megabytes of your hard disk imitate to be 4 megabytes of extra RAM, and the program spends most of its time waiting for the hard disk to spin. If you want to use all the fancy features the critics rave about, the program consumes 25 megabytes of your hard disk, plus 10 extra megabytes of free space to store temporary files, where the program makes notes to itself about what you're doing. Since the program consumes too much RAM and hard-disk space, it's called fatware.
Magazine reviewers praise Winword and don't mention its fatware problems, since the reviewers have modern computers.
Some folks still use Winword 2, which isn't as fancy as Winword 6c but has the advantage of running fine on a 386 with just 4M of RAM and a small hard drive.
Like Winword 6c and 7, Microsoft Word's new Mac version is fat. Mac lovers who happily used Word for the Mac version 5.1 (which resembles Winword 2) get upset when they upgrade to version 6 of Word for the Mac and discover it wants 8 megabytes of RAM and more hard disk space. Ami Pro
The French word for ``friend'' is ami. It's pronounced, ``Ah, me!''
For a word processor that's friendly and professional, get Ami Pro for Windows. Hassle-free, it runs fine even if you have just a 386 computer with just 4M of RAM and a small hard disk. Sucking you into the world of desktop publishing, it lets you wiggle your mouse to easily create multiple columns, headlines, drawings, and bar & pie charts. Use it to create eye-popping ads, blaring front pages of newspapers, and whatever else you want to make hot and spicy. After you master it, you'll be saying, ``Ah, me: pro!''
Ami Pro was invented by a company called Samna. Since Ami Pro was wonderful, Lotus bought Samna, so Lotus sells Ami Pro. In 1995, IBM bought Lotus, so Lotus is part of IBM.
Back in 1993, the computer magazines all declared Ami Pro the best word-processing program ___ better than Winword 2 in practically every way! When Winword 6 came out, the reviewers said Winword 6 was better than Ami Pro, since Winword 6 included extra-fancy word-processing features, and since the reviewers didn't notice Winword 6 was too fat.
The newest version of Ami Pro is called Word Pro.
Word Perfect
Though Microsoft Word is fancy and Ami Pro is pleasant, most businesses still use an older word-processing program, called Word Perfect. They use a version called Word Perfect 5.1 for DOS. It runs much faster than any Windows program. It runs on any IBM-compatible computer having a hard disk and 512K of RAM. It runs even if the CPU is just an 8088! It's the word processor I used for writing this book!
Back in 1990, when Microsoft Word and Ami Pro hadn't been fully developed yet, Word Perfect was the only word-processing program that worked well on IBM clones. (Microsoft Word worked well just on the Mac.)
After 1990, Word Perfect faced serious competition from Winword and Ami Pro, which both require Windows. But if your MS-DOS computer does not have Windows, Word Perfect remains your only choice for a good full-featured word
