Word processor

A word processor is an electronic device or computer software application, that performs the task of composition, editing, formatting, and sometimes printing of documents.

The word processor was a stand-alone office machine in the 1960s, combining the keyboard text-entry and printing functions of an electric typewriter, with a recording unit, either tape or floppy disk (as used by the Wang machine) with a simple dedicated computer processor for the editing of text. Although features and designs varied among manufacturers and models, and new features were added as technology advanced, word processors typically featured a monochrome display and the ability to save documents on memory cards or diskettes. Later models introduced innovations such as spell-checking programs, and improved formatting options.

As the more versatile combination of personal computers and printers became commonplace, and computer software applications for word processing became popular, most business machine companies stopped manufacturing dedicated word processor machines. As of 2009 there were only two U.S. companies, Classic and AlphaSmart, which still made them. Many older machines, however, remain in use. Since 2009, Sentinel has offered a machine described as a "word processor", but it is more accurately a highly specialised microcomputer used for accounting and publishing.

Podcasts:

PLAYLIST TIME:

Latest News for: word processor

Why some Ohio kids still master lost art of cursive

Lima Ohio 23 Mar 2025
It forces students to slow down, think about word spelling and sentence structure – especially important when artificial intelligence in text messaging apps and word processors suggests words and ...

The climate movement is talking about carbon all wrong, a new book argues

Grist 21 Mar 2025
“Those who call carbon a pollutant might want to lay down their word processor,” Hawken writes ... Hawken describes the word “biodiversity” as “a bloodless term” and “carbon neutrality” as an absurd “biophysical impossibility.”.

North Dakota dairy farm plans to add processing; bill would add state incentives

Aberdeen News 20 Mar 2025
He said the bill should be worded to make grants available to processors capable of handling 3 million pounds of milk a day ... He said the family has been considering a processing plant for some time, but closure of nearby processors has sped up plans.

Cook Medical’s Electronic Waste Recycling Day returning next month

Reporter-Times - Martinsville 20 Mar 2025
... electronics.Printer toner cartridges.Telephone systems and cellphones.Word processors and electric typewriters.Kitchen appliances, from can openers to freezers.What if I’m unsure about an item?.

Microsoft celebrates its 50th birthday with some ugly free wallpapers

PC World 19 Mar 2025
Nearly 50 years ago—April 4, 1975—Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen ... #Microsoft50” ... The wallpapers show the card game Solitaire, the extremely simple painting app Paint, the word processor Word, and the iconic spreadsheet app Excel ... .

HP has a thinner and lighter version of the Omen 16 gaming laptop

Engadget 19 Mar 2025
The HP Omen 16 Slim includes up to NVIDIA RTX 5070 graphics (no word yet on the cheaper configurations). It uses Intel Arrow Lake processors, ranging from the entry-level Core Ultra 5 225H to the Core Ultra 9 285H.

The Palantir problem

New Statesman 19 Mar 2025
in the words of one, “It’s as if we have handed them the keys to North Sea oil – and paid them for it.” ... Palantir is only “a data processor with no agency or ownership over the data, which belongs to the NHS.

5 smart ways to put your old laptop to good use

PC World 11 Mar 2025
It’s a simple, lightweight word processor with an interface that hides your menus and toolbars until you’re ready to use them again. It also has a lot of cool features like typewriter sound effects, daily word count goals, timed sessions, and more.

China all in on RISC-V open-source chip design

Asiatimes 10 Mar 2025
The XiangShan project was launched in 2019 to develop a high-performance RISC-V processor “with a focus on regular updates and improvements to the processor’s design, performance, and power efficiency,” in the words of TechRadar.

SALTZMAN: World’s thinnest smartphone, solar-powered laptop among highlights of MWC

Toronto Sun 08 Mar 2025
No word yet on when Spark Slim will come out, or where, but Tecno primarily sells phones in Africa, the Middle East, India, Latin America and, most recently, Eastern Europe ... No word on when this will be available.

Could ‘Grey’s’ continue without Ellen Pompeo? The show’s boss hopes it doesn’t come to that

The Los Angeles Times 07 Mar 2025
... video games after wrapping up homework, precocious Meg Marinis was often hovering over the family's clunky electronic word processor, punching out 'ER' scripts like an inspired TV writer on deadline.

ROBERT TOMBS: How today's rapacious tech barons recall the private company so overmighty it even ...

The Daily Mail 06 Mar 2025
The software is trained with screeds of novels and textbooks, newspaper journalism and magazine articles, trillions of words that are shovelled into its processors with appalling disregard for the international laws of copyright ... Francis Hayman, 1760.

ABC News Now Imploding Too

Hot Air 05 Mar 2025
It was, in other words, a self-inflicted wound.  Advertisement ... Throw them all on an island somewhere, naked and afraid, but with word processors as their chosen weapons.  Advertisement.

How to compare two versions of a Microsoft Word document

PC World 04 Mar 2025
Comparing different versions of Microsoft Word documents is helpful for identifying changes between drafts ... After clicking on the Expand button, you can select which changes the word processor should highlight in the document.
×