This week marks the first 40 years since the launch of Microsoft Word, the most popular word processor in the computer industry and the star app of those that make up the productivity and collaboration suite, Office, Microsoft’s most profitable software today.

“From its humble beginnings, Word has become one of the most popular office tools in the world, and almost everyone knows it in one way or another. To celebrate his 40th birthday, we decided to take a look at how we got here and also share where we’re going.”describe from Microsoft.

Microsoft Word, creation and development

He ran October 25, 1983 when Microsoft published a word processor that technically had little to do with the current version or the relevance it had later. Its launch barely sparked interest among more popular solutions such as Corel’s WordPerfect or WordStar, and Microsoft’s lesser influence at the time, without Windows being involved.

Microsoft relied on the work of Xerox PARC researchers to create Word. In that fabled lab The greatest innovations of the time were created, fundamental to the development of informatics, as they created standards as important as Ethernet or laser printing; peripherals such as a mouse or features such as a graphical user interface (GUI), another major development for the massive expansion of personal computers, mercilessly copied by Apple and Microsoft for their operating systems.

At Xerox PARC, they also developed a key function: the first WYSIWYG word processor. It was called the Xerox Bravo and represented a revolution for the segment. It must be understood that the word processors of the time were rather advanced editors. The word was also born with this profession.

Microsoft was clear on this, and with the overall goal of creating a complete office suite, hired Xerox developer Charles Simonyi to create the suite’s applications. Because it was necessary to develop a word processor, he also hired another Xerox engineer, Richard Brodiewith which he started to develop the so-called «Multi-Tool Word«.

The first 5 major versions of Microsoft Word have hardly changed their original appearance. Because they didn’t have a graphical interface, because they were based on MS-DOS, the goal was to compete with WordStar (the leaders at the time) or Corel’s WordPerfect. Curiously, the first version of Word for Mac had a graphical interface that gave us a glimpse into the future of the application.

The launch of the first Windows was key to the development of Word. Although MS-DOS versions were active and increasingly used, 1989’s Word for Windows 1.0 already used the mouse in a console environment, offering things like underlining, bold, and italics in a text-mode interface, which was considered a success. on time.

Since then, Word’s momentum has been unstoppable., as well as the office suite, where it was included along with other popular ones, such as an Excel spreadsheet or one designed for PowerPoint presentations. The arrival of graphical interfaces in Windows operating systems or toolbars already determined the future of Word, until the radical change in the approach to menus that came with the ribbon. Ribbon.

Recent history is better known and the biggest change came from its distribution model, from the local version (which has an expiration date) to the cloud version Office 365 (today Microsoft 365) has become a leader not only in its segment, but also in professional cloud services.

We can’t end Word’s 40th anniversary without talking about controversy surrounding its formats and its use by Microsoft to dominate the market. DOC (like XLS or PPT) has become the de facto standard in the face of protests from open source competitors. The battle was bloody and – at least – achieved the standardization of the open ODF format and Microsoft’s response with the launch of OOXML.

In practice, Microsoft has won the war and the promised interoperability is not as complete as it needs to be. Of course, there are alternatives to Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office, as competent as what comes from LibreOffice, which, in addition to being open source software, is completely free.

The future of Microsoft Word

The company used the anniversary to highlight what we can expect from Microsoft Word in the future: “As we look to the future, we are committed to carrying the torch and building on the foundation that was laid in 1983. Our unwavering focus is on ensuring that Word grows to support users in completing any writing and reading task, from those the simplest, the most complex, in the most efficient way possible».

To this end, they say they are investing in several areas such as:

• AI for Word with the inclusion of the Copilot assistant, which will bring fundamental changes to writing and reading.
• A word for the web. The basic version of the editor will be improved as a creation tool for mass consumption.
• Better to work together. Collaboration will be another point of improvement, converting to Word “in place to efficiently create, edit and review content, no matter where you are, who you’re working with or what device you’re using”.
• Personalization Engine. Committed to giving Word developers the tools and capabilities they need “create amazing experiences and support personalized workflows”.
• Word as your favorite consumer application. “It’s not just about content creation. Word is a great place to read the documents that matter to you on any device, wherever you are.».

And the cloud. Lots of cloud and a prepaid service to match. Microsoft published Office 2021 as a version of the independent suite, for local work and with a perpetual license. But the future of the suite (and Microsoft Word) does not lie in this. Its launch was more of a compromise than a solution. Perhaps a commitment not to leave even a millimeter of space for the mentioned alternatives and thus preserve the development as a de facto standard.

The company is fully committed to its cloud services, and Microsoft 365 is the ideal home for Word today. It’s really hard to say whether the company will release a new local version again.