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Jan 15, 2015  Microsoft Word is a word processor developed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS (1983), Apple Macintosh running Mac OS (1985), AT&T Unix PC (1985), Atari ST (1988), SCO Unix (1994), OS/2 (1989), and Microsoft Windows (1989). WordStar was a word processor application that had a dominant market share during the early- to mid-1980s. It was published by MicroPro International, and written for the CP/M operating system but later ported to MS-DOS.Although Seymour I. Rubinstein was the principal owner of the company, Rob Barnaby was the sole author of the early versions of the program (up to version 0.89). Dec 05, 2008  (For specific instructions, just go to the link and scroll down until you see “Get a High-Quality (and Free) Command-Line Word Processor with Microsoft Word.”). If you just want to get your free Word for DOS, click this link and the almighty Microsoft download deity will cause it to appear on your PC. It’s a self-extracting archive, so in.

WordStar was a word processor application that had a dominant market share during the early- to mid-1980s. It was published by MicroPro International, and written for the CP/Moperating system but later ported to MS-DOS. Although Seymour I. Rubinstein was the principal owner of the company, Rob Barnaby was the sole author of the early versions of the program (up to version 0.89). Starting with WordStar 4.0, the program was built on new code written principally by Peter Mierau.

WordStar was deliberately written to make as few assumptions about the underlying system as possible, allowing it to be easily ported across the many platforms that proliferated in the early 1980s. As all of these versions had relatively similar commands and controls, users could move between platforms with equal ease. Already popular, its inclusion with the Osborne 1 computer made the program become the de facto standard for much of the word-processing market.

As the computer market quickly became dominated by the IBM PC, this same portable design made it difficult for the program to add new features and affected its performance. In spite of its great popularity in the early 1980s, these problems allowed WordPerfect to take WordStar's place as the most widely used word processor from 1985 onwards.

• 1History

History[edit]

Founding[edit]

Seymour I. Rubinstein was an employee of early microcomputer company IMSAI, where he negotiated software contracts with Digital Research and Microsoft. After leaving IMSAI, Rubinstein planned to start his own software company that would sell through the new network of retail computer stores. He founded MicroPro International Corporation in September 1978 and hired John Robbins Barnaby as programmer, who wrote a word processor, WordMaster, and a sorting program, SuperSort, in Intel 8080assembly language. After Rubinstein obtained a report that discussed the abilities of contemporary standalone word processors from IBM, Xerox, and Wang Laboratories, Barnaby enhanced WordMaster with similar features and support for the CP/M operating system. MicroPro began selling the product, now renamed WordStar, in June 1979.^[1] Priced at $495 and $40 for the manual,^[2] by early 1980, MicroPro claimed in advertisements that 5,000 people had purchased WordStar in eight months.^[3]

Early success[edit]

WordStar was the first microcomputer word processor to offer mail merge and WYSIWYG. Barnaby left the company in March 1980, but due to WordStar's sophistication, the company's extensive sales and marketing efforts, and bundling deals with Osborne and other computer makers, MicroPro's sales grew from $500,000 in 1979 to $72 million in fiscal year 1984, surpassing earlier market leader Electric Pencil. By May 1983 BYTE magazine called WordStar 'without a doubt the best-known and probably the most widely used personal computer word-processing program'. The company released WordStar 3.3 in June 1983; the 650,000 cumulative copies of WordStar for the IBM PC and other computers sold by that fall was more than double that of the second most-popular word processor, and that year MicroPro had 10% of the personal computer software market. By 1984, the year it held an initial public offering, MicroPro was the world's largest software company with 23% of the word processor market.^[1][4][5][6]

WordStar, originally from MicroPro, was a popular word processor during the early 80s. It was ported to a number of CP/M architectures as well as Unix and PC/MS-DOS. It competed directly against many word processors, including WordPerfect, Microsoft Word for DOS, and Multimate. By the late 80s most business word processing had moved to WordPerfect. All of these word processor programs are 100 percent freeware, which means that you won't ever have to purchase the program, uninstall it after so-many days, donate a small fee, purchase add-ons for basic functionality, etc. The word processor tools below are free to download at no cost.

A manual that PC Magazine described as 'incredibly inadequate' led many authors to publish replacements. One of them, Introduction to WordStar, was written by future Goldstein & Blair founder and Whole Earth Software Catalog contributor Arthur Naiman, who hated the program and had a term inserted into his publishing contract that he not be required to use WordStar to write the book,^[7] using WRITE instead.^[8]

MS-DOS[edit]

WordStar 3.0, the first version for MS-DOS, appeared in April 1982.^[9][10] The DOS version was very similar to the original, and although the IBM PC had arrow keys and separate function keys, the traditional 'WordStar diamond' and other Ctrl-key functions were retained,^[5] leading to rapid adoption by former CP/M users.^{[citation needed]} WordStar's ability to use a 'non-document' mode to create text files without formatting made it popular among programmers for writing code.^[11] Like the CP/M versions, the DOS WordStar was not explicitly designed for IBM PCs, but rather for any x86 machine (as there were a number of non-IBM-compatible PCs that used 8086 or 80186 CPUs). As such, it used only DOS's API calls and avoided any BIOS usage or direct hardware access. This carried with it an unfortunate performance penalty as everything had to be 'double' processed (meaning that the DOS API functions would handle screen or keyboard I/O first and then pass them to the BIOS).

The first DOS version was a port of the CP/M-86 version,^[9] and thus the main program executable was a .COM file which could only access 64 kB of memory. Users quickly learned they could make WordStar run dramatically faster by installing a RAM disk board, and copying the WordStar program files into it.^[12] WordStar would still access the 'disk' repeatedly, but the far faster access of the RAM drive compared to a floppy disk yielded a substantial speed improvement. However, edited versions of a document were 'saved' only to this RAM disk, and had to be copied to physical media before rebooting.

InfoWorld described WordStar as 'notorious for its complexity',^[13] but by 1983 it was the leading word processing system.^[5][14] Although competition appeared early (the first version of WordPerfect debuted in 1982 and Microsoft Word in 1983), WordStar was the dominant word processor on x86 machines until 1985. It was part of the software bundle that accompanied Kaypro computers.

At that time, the evolution from CP/M to MS-DOS, with an 'Alt' key, had taken place. WordStar had until then never successfully exploited the MS-DOS keyboard, and that is one explanation for its demise.

By that point, MicroPro had dropped the generic MS-DOS WordStar and version 4.0 was exclusively for IBM compatibles. (IBM compatibles differed from MS-DOS compatible programs in the addresses assigned to its screen data.) It was the first version of WordStar supporting directories—a feature nearly mandatory to be usable on machines with hard disks. Also introduced were simple macros (shorthand) and the install program was completely updated to include features like reprogramming function keys and an extensive printer support. During the second half of the 1980s, the fully modernized WordPerfect overtook it in sales.^[15]

WordStar 5 (released in 1989) added footnote and endnote capability and a fairly advanced Page preview function. Versions 5.5 and 6 had added features, and version 7 (released 1991) included a complete macro language as well as support for over 500 printers. It also featured style sheets and mouse support.^[16]

WordStar 2000[edit]

At the time, the IBM Displaywriter System dominated the dedicated word processor market. IBM's main competition was Wang Laboratories. Such machines were expensive and were generally accessed through terminals connected to central mainframe or midrange computers.

When IBM announced it was bringing DisplayWrite to the PC, MicroPro focused on creating a clone of it which they marketed, in 1984, as WordStar 2000. WordStar 2000 supported features such as disk directories, but lacked compatibility with the file formats of existing WordStar versions and also made numerous unpopular changes to the interface. Gradually competitors such as WordPerfect reduced MicroPro's market share.^{[citation needed]}MultiMate, in particular, used the same key sequences as Wang word processors, which made it popular with secretaries switching from those to PCs.

BYTE stated that WordStar 2000 had 'all the charm of an elephant on motorized skates', warning in 1986 that an IBM PC AT with hard drive was highly advisable to run the software, which it described as 'clumsy, overdesigned, and uninviting .. I can't come up with a reason why I'd want to use it'. WordStar 2000 had a user interface that was substantially different from the original WordStar,^[17] and the company did little to advertise this. However, it had a lasting impact on the word processing industry by introducing keyboard shortcuts that are still widely used, namely Ctrl-B for Bold, Ctrl-I for Italic, and Ctrl-U for Underline^{[citation needed]}.

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Newstar[edit]

WordStar became popular in large companies without MicroPro. The company, which did not have a corporate sales program until December 1983,^[13] developed a poor reputation among customers. PC Magazine wrote in 1983 that MicroPro's 'motto often seems to be: 'Ask Your Dealer',^[10] and in 1985 that^[18]

Almost since its birth 4 years ago, MicroPro has had a seemingly unshakable reputation for three things: arrogant indifference to user feedback ('MicroPro's classic response to questions about WordStar was, 'Call your dealer'); possession of one of the more difficult-to-use word processors on the market; and possession of the most powerful word processor available.

By late 1984 the company admitted, according to the magazine, that WordStar's reputation for power was fading,^[18] and by early 1985 its sales had decreased for four quarters while those of Multimate and Samna increased.^[13] Several MicroPro employees meanwhile formed rival company Newstar. In September 1983 it published WordStar clone NewWord, which offered several features the original lacked, such as a built-in spell checker and support for laser printers. Advertisements stated that 'Anyone with WordStar experience won't even have to read NewWord's manuals. WordStar text files work with NewWord'. Despite competition from NewStar, Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, and dozens of other companies—which typically released new versions of their software every 12 to 18 months—MicroPro did not release new versions of WordStar beyond 3.3 during 1984 and 1985, in part because Rubinstein relinquished control of the company after a January 1984 heart attack. His replacements canceled the promising office suite Starburst, purchased a WordStar clone, and used it as the basis of WordStar 2000, released in December 1984. It received poor reviews—by April 1985 PC Magazine referred to WordStar 2000 as 'beleaguered'—due to not being compatible with WordStar files and other disadvantages, and by selling at the same $495 price as WordStar 3.3 confused customers. Company employees were divided between WordStar and WordStar 2000 factions, and fiscal year 1985 sales declined to $40 million.^{[1][19][20][21][22][23][9]}

By 1984 NewWord had released a second version, and many WordStar users switched to it. A third version appeared in 1986.^[9] In February 1985 MicroPro promised updates to WordStar 3.3,^[23] but none appeared until new management purchased NewWord and used it as the basis of WordStar 4.0 in 1987, four years after the previous version. Word (four versions from 1983 to 1987) and WordPerfect (five versions), however, had become the market leaders. More conflict between MicroPro's two factions delayed WordStar 5.0 until late 1988, again hurting the program's sales. After renaming itself after its flagship product in 1989, WordStar International merged with SoftKey in 1993.^[1][24][25]

WordStar for Windows[edit]

Like many other producers of successful DOS applications, WordStar International delayed before deciding to make a version for the commercially successful Windows 3.0.^[26] The company purchased Legacy, an existing Windows-based word processor, which was altered and released as WordStar for Windows in 1991. It was a well-reviewed product and included many features normally only found in more expensive desktop publishing packages.^[27] However, its delayed launch meant that Microsoft Word had already firmly established itself as the corporate standard during the two previous years.^[28]

Abandonment[edit]

WordStar is no longer developed, maintained or sold by its owners. It is the property of Riverdeep, Inc.^[9] There was some uncertainty as to whether Gores Technology Group or Riverdeep now owns WordStar, but the consensus is that it is Riverdeep, an education and consumer software company which is now part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology.

Notable users[edit]

WordStar was the program of choice for conservative intellectual William F. Buckley, Jr.,^[29] who used the software to write many works, including his last book. This was noted by his son, Christopher Buckley, who wrote of the almost comical loyalty and affection his father had shown for WordStar, which he had installed into every new computer he purchased despite the technical difficulty of such an endeavor as the program became increasingly outdated and incompatible with newer computers. He said of WordStar, 'I'm told there are better programs, but I'm also told there are better alphabets.'^[29]

Ralph Ellison also used WordStar.^[30]

Canadian science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer continues to use WordStar for DOS 7.0 (the final release) to write his novels.^[31][32]

A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin still uses the MS-DOS version of WordStar 4.0.^[33]

Andy Breckman, the creator of Monk, is a devoted WordStar user^[34].

Vampire fiction writer Anne Rice was another faithful user of WordStar who struggled to have it installed on newer computers until it could no longer reasonably be done. She then grudgingly transitioned to Microsoft Word, whose design she felt was comparatively unintuitive and illogical: 'WordStar was magnificent. I loved it. It was logical, beautiful, perfect,' adding, 'Compared to it, MS Word which I use today is pure madness.'^[35]

Interface[edit]

Prior to WordStar, word processors split text entry and formatting into separate functions; the latter was often not done until a document was about to be printed. WordStar was one of the first WYSIWYG word processors, showing accurate line breaks and page breaks. It was a major breakthrough to be able to see (and, while writing, force, if one so desired) where line breaks and page breaks would fall — even though, being a text-based program, WordStar couldn't accurately display different typefaces such as bold and italic until version 5.0.

In a default installation on a 25-line screen, the top third of the screen contained a menu of commands and a status line; the lower two-thirds of the screen displayed the text of the user's document. A user-configurable option to set the help level released this space for user text. The help system could be configured to display help a short time after the first key of a command sequence was entered. As users became more familiar with the command sequences, the help system could be set to provide less and less assistance until finally all on-screen menus and status information was turned off.

The original computer terminals and microcomputers for which WordStar was developed, many running the CP/M operating system, did not have function keys or cursor control keys (arrow keys, Page Up/Page Down). WordStar used sequences of alphabetic keys combined with the 'Control' key, which on keyboards of the time was conveniently next to the letter A in the position now usually occupied by the Caps Lock key. For touch typists, in addition, reaching the function and cursor keys generally requires them to take their fingers off the 'home keys' with consequent loss of typing rhythm.

For example, the 'diamond' of Ctrl-S/E/D/X (s=left, e=up, d=right, x=down) moved the cursors one character or line to the left, up, right, or down. Ctrl-A/F (to the outside of the 'diamond') moved the cursor a full word left/right, and Ctrl-R/C (just 'past' the Ctrl keys for up and down) scrolled a full page up/down. Prefacing these keystrokes with Ctrl-Q generally expanded their action, moving the cursor to the end/beginning of the line, end/beginning of the document, etc. Ctrl-G would delete the character under the cursor. Ctrl-H would backspace and delete. Commands to enable bold or italics, printing, blocking text to copy or delete, saving or retrieving files from disk, etc. were typically a short sequence of keystrokes, such as Ctrl-P-B for bold, or Ctrl-K-S to save a file. Formatting codes would appear on screen, such as ^B for bold, ^Y for italics, and ^S for underscoring.

Although many of these keystroke sequences were far from self-evident, they tended to lend themselves to mnemonic devices (e.g., Ctrl-Print-Bold, Ctrl-blocK-Save), and regular users quickly learned them through muscle memory, enabling them to rapidly navigate documents by touch, rather than memorizing 'Ctrl-S = cursor left.'

Early versions of WordStar lacked features found in other word processors, such as the ability to automatically reformat paragraphs to fit the current margins as text was added or deleted; a command had to be issued to force reformatting. The subsequent WordStar 2000 (and later versions of WordStar for DOS) added automatic paragraph reformatting (and all versions of WordStar had commands to manually reformat a paragraph (^B) or the rest of the document (^QQ^B and, as a later synonym, ^QU)).

WordStar was rare among word processing programs in that it permitted the user to mark (highlight) a block of text (with ^KB and ^KK commands) and leave it marked in place, and then go to a different position in the document and later (even after considerable work on other things) copy the block (with ^KC) or move it to a new location (with ^KV). Many users found it much easier to manipulate blocks this way than with the Microsoft Word system of highlighting with a mouse and then being forced by Word's select-then-do approach to immediately deal with the marked block, lest any typing replace it. The subsequent WordStar 2000 retained WordStar's distinctive functionality for block manipulation. As part of the ^K sequence of shortcuts, it offered true bookmarks (^K1 to ^K9) allowing the editor to move about in large documents with ease.

Column Mode editing was probably unique to WordStar. As a basic text editor, the interface showed all characters to be the same width - hence 80 characters across an 80 column screen resolution. By switching on column mode editing a rectangle of text spanning several characters and several lines could be selected and manipulated. This was very handy for manipulating columns of numbers and non-standard files. Once selected, the feature could also be used to calculate the total of a column of numbers and place the result at the insertion point.

Formatting with WordStar was carried out before the text to be formatted - unlike many other word processors where the formatting of a paragraph is 'buried' within the usually hidden paragraph marker at the end of the paragraph. This latter method leaves the user unclear where formatting starts. In normal editing, WordStar hides formatting markers but these are easily displayed with ^OD command. Formatting information is then displayed in the normal text area displacing the actual text. It nonetheless made it absolutely clear where formatting started and finished. Page and section formatting was handled differently by the addition of formatting lines. A formatting line was indicated by the line starting with a full stop. A few examples: .lh (line height) .lm (left margin) .rm (right margin) - each of which was followed by a number. The number was assumed to be points (pt) but could be easily modified to inches or mm by the addition of ' or mm after the number. .lm and .rm were never equal as both values were from the left hand edge of the page. Setting .rm to 0 made text lines infinitely long. Margins could also be set either absolutely or relatively (by preceding the value with either - or +) when setting the value.

WordStar 2000 added few new commands, but completely rewrote the user interface, using simple English-language mnemonics (so the command to remove a word, which had been ^T in WordStar, became ^RW in WordStar 2000; the command to remove the text from the rest of the line to the right of the cursor changed from ^QY to ^RR). However, many in WordStar's large installed user based were happy with the original WordStar interface, and did not consider the changes to be improvements. Although WordStar 2000 was meant as the successor to WordStar, it never gained substantial market share.

The original WordStar interface left a large legacy, and many of its control-key command are still available (optionally or as the default) in other programs, such as the modern cross-platform word processing software TextMaker and many text editors running under MS-DOS, Linux, and other UNIX variants. Some Borland products, including the popular Turbo Pascal compiler, and Borland Sidekick, used a subset of WordStar keyboard commands, the former in its IDE and the latter in the 'Notepad' editors. The TEXT editor built into the firmware of the TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer supported a subset of the Wordstar cursor movement commands (in addition to its own). Home word processing software like Write&Set not only use the WordStar interface, but have been based on WordStar DOS file formats, allowing WordStar users who no longer have a copy of the application to easily open and edit their files. There are WordStar keyboard command emulators and keymappings, both freeware and shareware, for current versions of Microsoft Word. Popular modern word processing software WordPerfect can open or save to WordStar documents, enabling users to move back and forth.

Add-ons[edit]

MailMerge was an add-on program (becoming integrated from WordStar 4 onwards) which facilitated the merge printing of bulk mailings, such as business letters to clients. Two files were required:

1. a data file, being a list of recipients stored in a non-document, comma-delimited plain ASCII text file, typically named Clients.dat (although WordStar had no requirement for a specific file extension). Each subsequent line of text in the file would be dedicated to a particular client, with name and address details separated on the line dedicated to a client by commas, read left to right. For example: Mr., Michael, Smith, 7 Oakland Drive, .. WordStar would also access Lotus123 spreadsheet files (*.wk1) for this data and if the data contained flags to start and stop WordStar processing the data then flags could be set so that certain 'clients' are omitted from the output stream.
2. a master document containing the text of the letter, using standard paragraphs (a.k.a. boilerplate text) as required. These would be mixed and matched as needed, and where appropriate, paragraphs could be inserted through external reference to subordinate documents.

The writer would insert placeholders delimited by ampersands into the master document, e.g., &TITLE&, &INITIAL&, &SURNAME&, &ADDRESS1&. In each copy of the letter the placeholders would be replaced with strings read from the DAT file. Mass mailings could thereby be prepared with each letter copy individually addressed.

Other add-on programs included SpellStar, a spell checker program, later incorporated as a direct part of the WordStar program; and DataStar, a program whose purpose was specifically to expedite creating of the data files used for merge printing. These were revolutionary features for personal computer users during the early-to-mid-1980s. A companion spreadsheet, CalcStar, was also produced using a somewhat WordStar-like interface; collectively, WordStar (word processing), DataStar/ReportStar (database management, a.k.a. InfoStar), and CalcStar (spreadsheet) comprised Starburst, the first-ever office suite of personal computer programs.^[36]

As a product enhancement, in the late 1980s WordStar 5 came bundled with PC-Outline, a popular DOSoutliner then available from Brown Bag Software, Inc. in California. PC-Outline text had to be exported to a WordStar-format file, as the programs were not developed to be internally compatible.^[37]

File types[edit]

WordStar identified files as either 'document' or 'nondocument,' which led to some confusion among users. 'Document' referred to WordStar word processing files containing embedded word processing and formatting commands. 'Nondocument' files were pure ASCII text files containing no embedded formatting commands. Using WordStar in 'Nondocument Mode' was essentially the same as using a traditional text editor. WordStar 5 introduced a document-mode 'print preview' feature, allowing the user to inspect a WYSIWYG version of text, complete with inserted graphics, as it would appear on the printed page.

Installation[edit]

Installation of early versions of WordStar, especially for CP/M, was very different from the approach of modern programs. While later editions had more-or-less comprehensive installation programs that allowed selection of printers and terminals from a menu, in the very early releases, each of the escape sequences required for the terminal and printer had to be identified in the hardware documentation, then hand-entered (in hex) into reserved locations in the program memory image. This was a fairly typical limitation of all CP/M programs of the time, since there was no mechanism to hide the complexities of the underlying hardware from the application program. To use the program with a different printer required re-installation of the program. Occasionally short machine-language programs had to be entered in a patch area in WordStar, to provide particular screen effects or cope with particular printers. Researching, testing, and proving out such installations was a time-consuming and knowledge-intensive process, making WordStar installation and customization a staple discussion of CP/M users' groups during that time.

DOS versions of WordStar at least had standardized the screen display, but still had to be customized for different printers.

Running WordStar in modern platforms[edit]

WordStar version 3.x used the MS-DOS File control block (FCB) interface, an early data structure for file input/output which was based closely on CP/M's file input/output functions. The provision of the FCB interface was intended to simplify the porting of (assembly language) programs from CP/M to (the then-new) MS-DOS. When MS-DOS adopted the Unix-like file interface of file handles, FCBs became a legacy interface supported for backward compatibility. Because FCB compatibility has not been maintained, WordStar 3.x will not function properly on modern versions of Windows. In particular, WordStar 3.x cannot save files.

One work-around is to use the DOSEMU emulator on Linux, which correctly implements the FCB interface; the DOSBox emulator does not, even on Linux. WordStar 4.0 does not have this problem because it uses the newer MS-DOS interface for input/output. OS/2 can run WordStar in a DOS session. Another option is using the FreeDos Operating System.

Another option is to run the CP/M versions of WordStar using a CP/M emulator, such as CPMEmu for Linux and the Raspberry Pi, or CP/M for OS X for macOS.

In October 2014, WordStar support was added to vDos, a derivative of DOSBox but optimized for business applications; vDos allows WordStar 4.0 and above to run under 32- and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows from XP through 10.^[38]

WordStar emulation[edit]

Although no current version of WordStar is available for modern operating systems, some former WordStar users still prefer WordStar's interface, especially the cursor diamond commands described earlier in this article. These users say that less hand movement is necessary to issue commands, and hence that writing under this interface is more efficient. The user accesses the nearby Ctrl key and then a letter or combination of letters, thus keeping his hands on or close to the typing home row instead of moving them away from it to reach for a specialty key or a mouse.

To accommodate these users, WordStar emulation programs were created. One such program is CtrlPlus by Yoji Hagiya, which remaps the standard PC keyboard, making many WordStar commands available in most Windows programs.^[39] CtrlPlus switches the Control and Caps Lock keys so that the Ctrl key is back where it was on older keyboards, next to the A key. It also gives functionality to the chief cursor diamond commands mentioned in this article.

Another WordStar emulation utility is 'WordStar Command Emulator for Microsoft Word', also known as 'WordStar for Word,' by Mike Petrie. Designed to work in conjunction with CtrlPlus, the Command Emulator adds many more WordStar commands to MS Word than CtrlPlus by itself, and also changes Word 97-XP's menus to be more like those of WordStar 7.0 for DOS, the last DOS version of WordStar. For example, Ctrl+K? was WordStar's word count command and Ctrl+QL was its spell check command. Hitting these commands in the WordStar Emulator within Word runs Word's equivalent commands. WordStar for Word also adds WordStar's block commands, namely Ctrl+KB to mark the beginning of a block, Ctrl+KK to mark the end, and Ctrl+KV to move it. Alternatively, Ctrl+KC could be used to copy the block. WordStar for Word works on all versions of Word from Word 97 through 2010.^[40]

The WordStar Command Emulator is written in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, a macro programming language based on Visual Basic built into Microsoft Word to allow for a high level of customization. Most Word add-ins are written in this language also known as VBA.

GNU Emacs used to come with a library 'wordstar-mode.el'^[41] that provides WordStar emulation, but it's been declared obsolete as of version 24.5.^[42] A macro set for vi that provides WordStar emulation is available.^[43]

The cross-platform JOE editor is a very WordStar-like alternative. When invoked as jstar Joe emulates many WordStar keybindings. JOE lacks formatting options and essentially only operates in nondocument mode, but formatted documents can be authored in HTML/CSS, Markdown or another markup language.

WordStar goes bi-directional[edit]

Around 1978 Elbit Systems in Israel developed a CP/M capable microcomputer named the DS2100. CP/M machines were readily available and Elbit needed something to differentiate their product from others. An agreement was made with MicroPro to develop a version of WordStar that supported both English and Hebrew input. The concept was revolutionary, as Hebrew is written right-to-left and all word processors of the time assumed left-to-right. WordStar, as developed by Elbit, was the first word processor that offered bi-directional input and mixed alphabets.

Elbit acquired rights to the source code and a development team in Elbit, Haifa, worked on the project. For several years Hebrew-English WordStar was the de factoWYSIWYG word processor leader until, inevitably, it was ousted by younger competitors.

Filename extensions[edit]

• DOS WordStar files by default have no extension; some users adopted their own conventions, such as the letters WS followed by the version number (for example, WS3), or just plain WS. Backup files were automatically saved as BAKs.
• WordStar for Windows files use the extension WSD
• WordStar for Windows templates use the extension WST
• WordStar for Windows macros use the extension WMC
• WordStar for Windows temporary files use the extension !WS
• WordStar 2000 for DOS and UNIX PC do not have a fixed extension but DOC and WS2 were common

Legacy[edit]

Newstar produced New Word for Amstrad PCW8256, PCW8512 in the mid-1980s, running CP/M on 3-inch floppy disks. NewWord also was available for MS-DOS and in a native version for Concurrent CP/M. It was very similar to WordStar. LapStar was a cut-down clone for the TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer.^[44]

Since 2013 a partial WordStar clone has been in the process of being developed under the name of WordTsar. ^[45]. In addition German software author Martin Vieregg has sold the Write&Set package, a shareware GUI based WordStar clone for Microsoft Windows and OS/2 - eComStation since the latter half of the 1990s, and for Linux and OS X as well.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcdBergin, Thomas J. (Oct–Dec 2006). 'The Origins of Word Processing Software for Personal Computers: 1976-1985'. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 28 (4): 32–47. doi:10.1109/MAHC.2006.76.
2. ^'Word-Star'. BYTE (advertisement). January 1980. p. 49.
3. ^Williams, Gregg; Welch, Mark; Avis, Paul (September 1985). 'A Microcomputing Timeline'. BYTE. p. 198. Retrieved 2013-10-27.
4. ^Arredondo, Larry (1984-03-26). 'Review: WordStar 3.3'. InfoWorld. p. 66. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
5. ^ ^abcShuford, Richard S. (May 1983). 'Word Tools for the IBM Personal Computer'. BYTE. p. 176. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
6. ^Cowan, Les (August 1982). 'A Usable WordStar Manual is Born'. PC Magazine. p. 150. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
7. ^'Whole Earth Software Catalog'. In my estimation, WORDSTAR is one of the most poorly designed word-processing programs ever written— a huge, elaborate farrago of klugy patches, sort of like a Rube Goldberg machine gone berserk.. one of my requirements before signing the contract was that I wouldn't have to use WORDSTAR to write the book.
8. ^Pournelle, Jerry (March 1985). 'On the Road: Hackercon and COMDEX'. BYTE. p. 313. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
9. ^ ^abcdePetrie, Michael (2013-04-11). 'A Potted History of WordStar'. WordStar Resource Site. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
10. ^ ^abvan Gelder, Lindsy (August 1983). 'On The Road To Software Stardom'. PC Magazine. p. 156. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
11. ^'WordStar and You'.
12. ^'Whole Earth Software Catalog'. There is a potent remedy for the slowness of WORDSTAR and NEWWORD, which is caused by the programs constantly 'going to disk' to get one thing or another. Install a 'RAM disk' and load the program on it. Since it is an electronic circuit board emulating a disk, everything happens at electronic speed, faster even than with a hard disk.
13. ^ ^abc'Micropro Fights for Office Market'. InfoWorld. 1985-04-15. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 2015-02-04.
14. ^John C. Dvorak.
15. ^Will WordPerfect for Windows steal the crown? Computer Shopper, 1 February 1992, Daniel J. Rosenbaum Copy from HighBeam Research
16. ^Petrie, Michael. 'WordStar History'. www.wordstar.org.
17. ^Shapiro, Ezra (June 1986). 'Upgrade Fever'. BYTE. p. 329.
18. ^ ^abStinson, Craig (1985-02-05). 'WordStar 2000: MicroPro Odyssey'. PC Magazine. p. 33. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
19. ^Caruso, Denise (1984-11-19). 'NEW WORDSTAR ON THE WAY'. InfoWorld. p. 15. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
20. ^Wortman, Leon A. (1985-01-07). 'Wordstar 2000'. InfoWorld. p. 47. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
21. ^Angel, Jonathan (1986-05-19). 'NewWord 3 Is Now More Than Clone Of WordStar'. InfoWorld. p. 57. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
22. ^'Your troubles are over / There's a NewWord for efficiency (advertisement)'. PROFILES. March 1984. pp. 57–58. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
23. ^ ^abMachrone, Bill (1985-04-02). 'MicroPro Revamps WordStar 2000'. PC Magazine. p. 34. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
24. ^Willett, Shawn (1993-05-24). 'Merger is first step to a consumer orientation for WordStar'. InfoWorld. p. 31. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
25. ^Bergin, Thomas J. (Oct–Dec 2006). 'Word Processing Timeline'. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
26. ^Beleaguered WordStar poised to rebound if management can spark user demand, Software Industry Report, 4 November 1991 Copy from HighBeam Research
27. ^WordStar for Windows is a good deal, Computer Shopper, 1 January 1992, Steve Gilliland Copy from HighBeam Research
28. ^Is the boom (almost) over? (indications that the market for Windows-based applications is slowing down), Soft-Letter, 20 October 1992 Copy from highbeam Research
29. ^ ^abFeigenson, Walter (2009-04-23). 'William F Buckley and WordStar'. Wally's Follies. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
30. ^Kirschenbaum, Matthew (2014-07-25). 'Software, It's a Thing'. Medium. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
31. ^Sawyer, Robert J.'WordStar: A Writer's Word Processor'. Robert J. Sawyer. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
32. ^Sawyer, Robert J. (2009-06-23). 'RJS on WordStar cited in paper about accessibility for the blind'. sfwriter.com. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
33. ^Martin, George R.R. (2011-02-17). 'The Social Media'. Archived from the original on 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
34. ^Keller, Joel (2007-12-19). 'Madison resident Andy Breckman writes for the TV show Monk'. New Jersey Monthly. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
35. ^Comment, 28 August 2015, Anne Rice, Facebook
36. ^John C. Dvorak. 'Whatever Happened to Wordstar?'. Retrieved 2015-08-22.
37. ^Review: Wordstar 6.0. Atarimagazines.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-17.
38. ^Robert J. Sawyer (2014). 'WordStar and vDos'. Retrieved 2014-10-19.
39. ^'CtrlPlus'. Archived from the original on 2009-10-27. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
40. ^'WordStar Emulator'. wordstar.org.
41. ^45 EmulationArchived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
42. ^'NEWS.24.5'. www.gnu.org.
43. ^See this archive directoryArchived 2015-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, scroll to 'ws.Z' and Save-As, and gunzip the resulting file. Clicking the link to the file will erroneously view the binary as plaintext.
44. ^'Whole Earth Software Catalog'.
45. ^http://wordtsar.ca/, WordTsar, retrieved 2018 November 21

External links[edit]

• WordStar Resource Site — featuring a full (as far as is known) history of WordStar
• Microsoft Help & Support — Microsoft's Office File Converter Pack installs additional text converters and graphics (image) filters. You can import/export WordStar files after installing it.
• Petrie, Michael. A Potted History of WordStar, 9 September 2006.
• WordStar documents archived at The BITSAVERS.ORG Documents Library, [1], September 10, 2014.

These free word processors can be a great alternative to Microsoft Word. Many have very similar characteristics to Word and since they're free, you'll be saving hundreds of dollars by using one of them.

All of the free word processors below can create, edit, and print documents. Many of them can open and edit Word documents, automatically check your spelling, use a wide selection of free MS Word templates, create tables and columns, and much more.

Our top picks for a free word processor are at the top of the list. These have the most features and we suggest checking these out first to see if they'll fit your word processing needs. You should find that most of them can handle just about everything Microsoft Word can.

If you're looking for a free word processor that doesn't require a download, check out this list of free online word processors for only word processors you can access from anywhere you have an internet connection.

All of these word processor programs are 100 percent freeware, which means that you won't ever have to purchase the program, uninstall it after so-many days, donate a small fee, purchase add-ons for basic functionality, etc. The word processor tools below are free to download at no cost.

WPS Office's Writer

What We Like

• Features a tabbed interface for better document management.

• Includes 1 GB of cloud storage.

• Free templates built in.

What We Don't Like

• The whole suite has to be downloaded to use Writer.

WPS Office (previously called Kingsoft Office) is a suite that includes a word processor, called Writer, that's easy to use because of its tabbed interface, clean design, and uncluttered menu.

Spell check is performed automatically as you would expect to be done in a good word processor. You can easily toggle spell check on and off from the menu at the bottom.

Writer supports full-screen mode, dual page layout, and the option to hide the menus, which makes for a perfect distraction-free writing experience. There's even a viewing mode to protect against eye damage, turning the background of the page into a greenish color.

You can also add custom dictionaries, read/write to popular file types, create a cover page and table of contents, use built-in templates, encrypt documents, and easily view all the pages of a document from a side pane.

Writer is part of the WPS Office software, so you have to download the whole suite to get the Writer portion. It runs on Windows, Linux, and mobile devices (iOS and Android).

TextMaker From FreeOffice

What We Like

• Several neat features.

• Opens and saves to common file formats.

• Great for making eBooks.

• Automatic spell check is included.

• Free for home and business use.

What We Don't Like

• Relatively large download size.

• Must download the whole suite of programs even if you'll just install the word processor.

SoftMaker FreeOffice is a suite of office programs, and one of the included tools is a free word processor called TextMaker.

Immediately after opening this word processor for the first time, you're given the option to choose a classic menu style or use a ribbon menu you might already be familiar with. The choice is yours, and there's even a touch mode option you can turn on.

Menu options are organized logically, and beyond the normal word processor features are ones for eBook-making, like PDF and EPUB exporting, chapter creation, and footnotes.

This free word processor can also preview documents before opening them, track changes, insert comments, add objects such as Excel charts and PowerPoint slides, and use shapes, among many other things.

TextMaker can open a huge variety of document file types, including ones from Microsoft Word, OpenDocument files types, plain text, WRI, WPD, SXW, PWD, and others. When you're ready to save, this word processor exports to popular formats like DOCX, DOTX, HTML, and TXT, as well as file formats specific to this program (e.g., TMDX and TMD).

TextMaker has to be downloaded as part of FreeOffice, but during installation, you can choose to install the whole suite or just the free word processor program. It runs on Windows 10, 8, 7, or Windows Server 2008. Mac 10.10 and higher is supported, too, as well as Linux.

OpenOffice Writer

What We Like

• Works with lots of file formats.

• Extensions and templates are supported.

• Checks for spelling errors automatically.

• Includes advanced and basic formatting options.

• There's a portable option available.

What We Don't Like

• You have to download the whole program suite even to use just Writer.

• Might take a while to download on slow internet connections.

• The interface and menus are dull and cluttered.

OpenOffice Writer has all the necessary features to make it on any list of good word processors. Plus, there's a portable option so you can use the program on the go with a flash drive.

Automatic spell check is included, as well as support for a huge variety of popular file types, the ability to add notes to the side of any document, and easy-to-use wizards for creating documents such as letters, faxes, and agendas.

A side menu pane lets you quickly switch between editing page properties, styles, and formatting to adding images from the gallery. You can even undock these settings so that you can have more room for writing but still have simple access to important tools.

Similar to WPS Office, below, you must download the whole OpenOffice suite to your computer even if you're just installing Writer. With the portable option, you have to actually install the entire office suite even if you just want to use the Writer tool.

WordGraph

What We Like

• Includes unique advanced features.

• Has a spell check.

• You can download it apart from its whole suite.

• Downloads and installs quickly.

What We Don't Like

• Spell check doesn't work automatically.

• The interface can be distracting.

WordGraph includes most of the standard features you'd find in any word processor, but it also has some unique tools.

In addition to adding things like graphics, charts, tables, and illustrations to a document, WordGraph can also produce PDFs, create a table of contents and index, and access files stored on online storage services like OneDrive and Dropbox.

While a spell check utility is included, it doesn't work in live mode, which means you must manually run it to check for spelling mistakes.

Unlike the two programs from above, you can download WordGraph on its own without having to download the SSuite Office software that it belongs to.

AbleWord

What We Like

• Easy to use with a clean and uncluttered UI.

• Lets you find spelling errors in your writing.

• Popular formatting options are supported.

• Can open and save to popular file formats.

What We Don't Like

• Hasn't been updated since 2015.

• Spell check isn't automatic.

• Limited open/save file format options.

AbleWord opens documents quickly, has a really simple design, and supports editing and saving to popular file types. It's very easy to use and looks really nice.

There isn't much that makes AbleWord stand out among similar software except that it's not bogged down with unnecessary buttons or confusing features and settings, and you can use it to import PDF text into the document.

Spell check is built in but you have to run it manually because it doesn't find errors automatically.

This program hasn't been updated since 2015, so it probably won't be updated again any time soon, or ever, but it's still fully usable today as a free word processor.

AbiWord

What We Like

• Spell check is automatic.

• Supports automatic saving.

• Lets you collaborate with others in real time.

• Works with lots of file types.

• Supports plugins.

What We Don't Like

• Print preview isn't as easy to use as it is in similar programs.

• Doesn't have a modern interface.

AbiWord is a free word processor with automatic spell check and common formatting options. The menus and settings are organized well and aren't cluttered or confusing to use.

You can share documents with others and have the changes reflected automatically, making live, real-time collaboration possible.

Common file types work with AbiWord, like ODT, DOCM, DOCX, and RTF.

During setup, you can enable or disable all sorts of extra features, like an equation editor, grammar checker, web dictionary, Google Search and Wikipedia integrator, translators, and file format support for DocBook, OPML, ClarisWorks, and others.

One downside to this program is that the print preview feature isn't like most programs in that you have to open the preview as an image in a photo viewer, which isn't supplied with AbiWord.

Jarte

What We Like

• Customize the layout a number of ways.

• Can be set up to auto-save every so often.

• Opens documents in tabs.

• Supports common document formats.

• Small setup file.

• There's a portable option available.

What We Don't Like

• Must run spell check manually.

• Could be hard to use.

• No update since 2018.

Jarte is another free word processor that has a tabbed interface to keep all open documents easily accessible on one screen.

Common file types are supported, you can set Jarte to automatically save a document from every minute to every 20 minutes, and you can install several spell check dictionaries during setup.

Jarte can be configured to automatically open the last file you were using upon launching the program, which is a nice option that most of the other software from this list doesn't allow.

Unfortunately, the spell check feature isn't automatic, and the program itself is sometimes confusing to grasp.

WriteMonkey

What We Like

• Completely portable (no installation necessary).

• Features a very minimal interface.

• Includes spell check.

• Supports plugins.

What We Don't Like

• Hasn't been updated since 2014.

• Spell check isn't automatic.

WriteMonkey is a portable word processor that's centered around providing an interface with the least number of distractions as possible so that you can focus on writing and nothing else.

Every menu option in WriteMonkey is only shown if you right-click the document. From there, you can do everything from format text or check the spelling to open the preferences, create bookmarks, insert symbols, manage profiles, and lots more.

Although spell check is available, it's not automatic, which means you must open the utility manually to check for errors.

RoughDraft

What We Like

• Supports automatic spell check.

• Tabbed browsing helps organize open documents.

• Lets you use shortcut keys.

What We Don't Like

• Very outdated.

• Supports a limited number of file formats.

Brother printer driver macos mojave. Another free word processor, this one advertised for creative writers, is RoughDraft. It works with RTF, TXT, and DOC (from Word 2010–97) files, provides automatic spell check, allows shortcut keys for nearly every command, and lets you switch between various writing modes — Normal, Screenplay, Stage/Radio Play, and Prose.

It's simple to open and edit files from your computer because of the file browser that's open on the side of the program window. New documents appear in their own tab so that you can keep up to 100 files open in RoughDraft at the same time.

One of the downsides to this word processor is that the last version came out in 2005, making it highly unlikely that you'll get new features in the future. Also, while the DOC file format is supported, the file has to have been created in Word 2010 or older.

FocusWriter

What We Like

• Provides multiple ways to create a distraction-free interface.

• Colors and layouts can be customized.

• Goals can be created to stay on task.

• There's a portable option.

Dos Word Processor Download Mac

What We Don't Like

• Can't open documents with rich text formatting.

FocusWriter is similar to WriteMonkey in that it's portable and has a minimal interface. The program automatically hides the menus and any buttons from being viewed, and you can run it in full-screen mode so that you don't see any other program windows.

Basic formatting is allowed in FocusWriter, like bold, strikethrough, and aligning text. You can also edit the foreground and background text, page margins, color, and line spacing to produce custom themes.

You can open and save documents to popular formats like DOCX, ODT, RTF, and TXT. However, documents with rich text formatting might import into FocusWriter in plain text and become completely unusable.

FocusWriter includes an alarm and lets you set goals regarding your typing, like to type a particular number of words or to type for a certain number of minutes per day.

Another advantage this program has over some of the other free word processors in this list is that it gets updated far more often, so you can be sure that new features and/or security updates are released as often as they need to be.

Judoom

What We Like

• Supports tabbed browsing.

• Makes project tracking easy.

• Works with the two most popular MS Word file formats.

What We Don't Like

• It's missing several features common in a Word processor.

• Word counter doesn't update automatically as you type.

Judoom has a similar look and feel to Microsoft Word, and you can even use some of the same file types, like DOC and DOCX.

Dos Word Processor Download

It's easy to keep track of projects because you can add up to two at a time and easily browse through local files and folders from a side menu. Any new documents that are opened are kept in their own tabs to keep everything closely together but organized at the same time.

While it's easy to use and has a clean look to it, Judoom doesn't include common features that you'll normally find in a word processor, like spell check, headers/footers, and page numbers.

AEdit

Ms Dos Word Processor

What We Like

• Protect documents with a password.

• Spell check is included.

• Lets you edit unique document file formats.

• Installs in seconds.

What We Don't Like

Dos Word Processor Download Free

• Doesn't open DOCX files.

• Saves to just a few basic file formats.

• Spell check isn't automatic.

• Very outdated.

AEdit has a bit of an outdated interface since the development team abandoned the software and haven't released an update since 2001, but it still works just fine for a word processor.

AEdit lets you password protect documents and provides a spell check function, though it doesn't check for errors automatically.

The free AEdit word processor works with files in Microsoft's popular DOC format but not their newer DOCX format. You can also open 123, BAT, ECO, HTML, RTF, TXT, and XLS files.

However, when you save a document with AEdit, your options are limited to ECO, RTF, TXT, and BAT.

Best Dos Word Processor

Free Trial of Microsoft Office

If you can't find a word processor that you're happy with, consider taking advantage of the free trial of Microsoft Office so that you can get the full capabilities of Microsoft Word for a whole month.