Why word processing doesn’t have to mean Word

It might surprise you to learn that word processors have been around since the 1960s, long before computers became ubiquitous.

IBM was an early pioneer, and its historic MT/ST device allowed users to save content and rewrite text before sending magnetic tape files to someone else for editing or copying.

By the mid-1970s, companies were selling millions of standalone word processing systems, distinct from computers despite offering disc storage and – by the late Seventies – screens.

The late 20th century saw devices resembling portable typewriters augmented by shallow LCD displays permitting a few lines of text to be viewed and edited prior to being printed or saved.

However, these would swiftly be rendered obsolete by word processing software which ran on desktop or laptop computers.

And while a huge amount of word processing software has been released over the last five decades, one platform has come to dominate the global market…

Word on the street

Microsoft Word debuted back in 1983, but was the arrival of Word for Windows in 1990 that spearheaded the growth in this word processing software package.

Within a year, Word had captured the majority of the Windows-powered word processor market, and it has dominated the market ever since.

Today, it accounts for around two thirds of Windows-based word processing software, and it’s even become the default platform among Mac users.

The .docx file format (which supplanted the iconic .doc suffix following the release of Microsoft Office 2007) works on almost every desktop or portable computer, laptop, tablet and smartphone.

That’s despite a plethora of rivals, ranging from basic free utilities to sophisticated tools that can be easier to use than modern iterations of Word.

Below, we’ve selected four alternatives to Word which also deserve consideration.

You’re just my type

The greatest threat to Word’s dominance is posed by

Google Docs

, reportedly used by over 200,000 companies internationally.

Alongside Sheets (itself a thinly veiled alternative to Microsoft Excel), Docs is a remarkably powerful software package.

While it lacks technical attributes like mail merging and macros, these can be added in as plug-ins or third party extensions.

Docs’ static eight-section header menu is far more intuitive than Word’s 11-section menu above that endlessly changing ribbon with its plethora of drop-down and ‘hidden’ buttons.

Docs is also better at collaborative project work, since it dovetails with Google Drive and automatically saves to the cloud, where Word requires a OneDrive account to do this.

There will be many people who don’t like Docs’ reliance on cloud storage, or Word’s cost as part of the 365 suite. They may favour LibreOffice instead.

This package is a favourite of Linux users, but it also works on Windows and Mac devices – though the latter is often reported to be glitchy.

LibreOffice’s

Writer

package is capable of importing and converting almost any file type, while its open-source design means vulnerabilities can be tested by security-conscious users.

There’s no Quick Action toolbar or dual-pane functionality, but Writer does offer macros, tables and forms. Its grey interface is also pleasingly reminiscent of older Word versions.

Another package tipping its hat to Word is

Free Writer

, incorporated into WPS Office, and sporting an interface which may have you checking the copyright laws.

Other Word-adjacent features include 1GB of cloud storage, pre-installed templates and a ribbon interface, though this one is rather easier to use.

On the downside, there are some on-screen adverts to endure, though these can easily be closed – or banished entirely by upgrading to a paid version of WPS Office.

Finally, we have to mention

Apple Pages

– a valiant but ultimately doomed attempt by Apple to steer people away from using Word on Macs and MacBooks.

As you might expect from a company whose products are often used to create or edit media files, Pages is far more adept at blending words and images than Word’s clunky efforts.

However, formatting issues often arise when saving a Word-compatible file, and it lacks the granular complexity of other platforms reviewed above.