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Monday November 6, 2023 03:51 PM
Last Updated: Monday November 6, 2023 03:51 PM
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Microsoft Word arrived at the very beginning of the computer age. People are just moving away from typewriters and getting familiar with the concept of word processing on computers. Then 40 years passed one by one.
Star Online Desk
Monday November 6, 2023 03:51 PM Last Updated: Monday November 6, 2023 03:51 PM
A computer or laptop is unthinkable without Microsoft Word. Photo: Collected
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A computer or laptop is unthinkable without Microsoft Word. Photo: Collected
Last October 25 was the 40th birthday of Microsoft Word. On this day in 1983, the world’s most popular word processing software began its journey. Over the past four decades, this software has revolutionized writing and communication.
The time has come ward
The first version of Word was released in 1983. Photo: Collected
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The first version of Word was released in 1983. Photo: Collected
Microsoft Word arrived at the very beginning of the computer age. People are just moving away from typewriters and getting familiar with the concept of word processing on computers. Then 40 years passed one by one.
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And due to the influence of time, now is the era of artificial intelligence (AI) or artificial intelligence. Much has changed in the long intervening period. The personal computer sector has changed a lot, almost everywhere in the world people can use the internet and now people are going through another revolutionary change through artificial intelligence.
In a blog post to mark Ward’s 40th birthday, Microsoft remembered 1983 as the year’s best movie was James Bond’s spy thriller ‘Never Say Never Again’, best song of the year was Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ and best TV show. ‘Dallas’.
Even though it was not Sher Shah’s time, the price of 1 gallon of gas was 1 dollar 59 cents.
In the same year, Apple’s personal computer (PC) Lisa, priced at six thousand dollars, came to the market.
Becoming an integral part of life
Ward’s journey. Photo: Collected
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Ward’s journey. Photo: Collected
Microsoft Word has long been an integral part of many people’s lives. This software has become so integrated into our lives that we no longer even notice its impact.
Initially this software was called ‘Multi-Tool Word’. At one point there were about 300 such software available in the market. Seniors may still remember ‘Word Perfect’ and ‘Word Star’. But within just a decade, Microsoft Word surpassed them all.
In 1994, Microsoft announced that their share of the word processing market was 90 percent. Over time, Microsoft Word has become one of the most successful and popular software in history.
It is difficult to determine the exact number of people currently using this software. However, 1.4 billion Windows devices are used at least once a month and, presumably, have some version of Word running on them.
In addition, more than half of the world’s top 500 or ‘Fortune 500’ companies use this software.
Simple design and reliability
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft in 1983. Photo: Collected
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Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft in 1983. Photo: Collected
Despite its popularity compared to other software, many of the new and modern features of word processing come not from Word, but from other software.
Some popular features like grammar checking, track change have come from other software.
Although initially lagging behind in terms of introducing new features, Word became popular due to its simple and smart design. One of the great advantages of Word is that it can be used by pretty much anyone, very easily.
Microsoft Word was the first to introduce the line breaks feature. Bold and italic fonts were also invented by them. Word templates also came from Microsoft, which further strengthened the position of this software in communication.
All in all, Ward becomes users’ trusted music with useful features and stable performance.
The universal language of communication is ‘Word’.
As many logos as Ward. Photo: Collected
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As many logos as Ward. Photo: Collected
Microsoft’s blog claims Microsoft Word dominates business communication.
Although using different software for email, many write in Word first and check spelling and grammar.
According to analysts, the English language has also become popular as a medium of communication for the benefit of wards. Even today Word’s spelling and grammar checking tools are mainly for English.
Explaining how Microsoft Word’s spelling checker and grammar features have affected communication, linguist Noel Wolff says that while spell checkers or grammar tools may not seem important to the naked eye, in the long run they have ‘accuracy and consistency’ in writing. ‘ continued indirect efforts to establish. It has both positive and negative aspects.
On the one hand, Word is making your writing more useful by highlighting any spelling or grammar mistakes in red, Wolff suggests, on the other hand, many people are losing their own style of writing by paying extra attention to these things.
The autocorrect feature plays a very important role in writing in Word. Earlier certain word mistakes had to be corrected. But now Word automatically identifies and corrects the wrong word. However, this autocorrect feature does not suggest modified words according to your writing style, rather, which autocorrect suggestion will come in the context of which word, it is mentioned in the algorithm of Microsoft Word itself. That is, the same word that Microsoft shows you autocorrect, billions of other users also show the same autocorrect. It may seem innocent to you, but this is another example of how Word helped establish the standard of the English language.
Human communication capabilities and diversity
Early versions of Word had to be installed from a floppy disk like this. Photo: Collected
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Early versions of Word had to be installed from a floppy disk like this. Photo: Collected
Microsoft Word has empowered countless people to communicate and diversified the communication industry. Word is now a part of everyday life, people can write or create new things more easily. As a result, we are getting to know about people from different sectors. In 2018, Microsoft introduced the feature of typing by voice, as a result of which those who have difficulty in typing, they can type only through voice commands.
Early on, it was promoted that software like Microsoft Word could be used to write better essays. A 1992 study found that essays written with a word processor were ‘significantly better’ than handwritten essays. If something is written through these software, there is an opportunity to change and expand it at any time, as a result of which the quality of writing is gradually improved.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is currently on the rise. AI is also being added to software like Microsoft Word, increasing its functionality manifold. However, many are ambivalent about whether AI should be added to the ward. Some say that if AI can handle spelling mistakes, sentence structure, or similar tasks, then humans can focus more on other creative tasks. Moreover, AI can quickly understand a writer’s writing style and suggest different words or sentences accordingly.
However, there are also fears that over-reliance on AI may lose people’s interest in learning new things, writing and linguistic improvement.
Sources: BBC, Microsoft, The Verge
