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WordStar (1981)

83 Word Processor CPM DOS Windows

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. In the early 90s, Microsoft Word for Windows took over.

Select Word Processor (1981)

0 Word Processor CPM

The Select Word Processor, from SELECT Information Systems, Inc., is a word processor for generic CP/M-80 based systems. There were also versions for MS-DOS and CP/M-86.

1981

Easy Writer (1982)

12 Word Processor DOS

Easy Writer was one of the first word processors for the IBM PC. It was originally written by John Draper AKA "Captain Crunch", with the PC version published by IBM. EasyWriter 1.x was written in the FORTH programming language and, as the story goes, it was ported to the IBM PC in a matter of days. There was also an Apple II version.

IBM Professional Editor (1982)

8 Word Processor Editor DOS

Professional Editor is an early editor for the IBM PC. It makes extensive use of function keys, has user definable macros, and can work with files larger than available RAM. You WILL need to read the manual to use this!

1.00
II

TI Writer Word Processor (1982)

3 Word Processor Other

TI-Writer was the standard word processor for the TI-99/4A. To use TI-Writer, you must have the TI-Writer cartridge (needed to load the disk software) and a TI-99/4A with the 32k RAM and disk expansion options.

1982

Spellbinder (1982)

3 Word Processor CPM DOS

Spellbinder, from Lexisoft and later Ltec Inc, is a word processing program originally created for CP/M and OASIS operating systems and eventually competed with WordStar. It was designed as a work-alike of the NBI Word Processing system and featured spell checking, grammar checking, footnotes, two-column print, proportional printing, and macro programming language. It was bundled with machines from Eagle Computers, Hewlett-Packard, and Xerox.

5.x
6.10

Volkswriter (1982)

15 Word Processor DOS

Volkswriter, from Lifetree Software Inc, was an early easy to use word processor for the IBM PC. Development of Volkswriter was inspired by the horridness of EasyWriter, and for a brief time it was possibly the only usable word processor for the IBM PC before an IBM version of WordStar was released. The "Deluxe" version will work with larger documents and has more features.

IBM Time Manager (1982)

2 PIM DOS

IBM Time Manager is a rudimentary scheduling application for the IBM PC. It lets you keep a calendar for an entire year, schedule items, make notes, set priority, and produce certain kinds of totals.

1.0

WordPerfect (1983)

140 Word Processor DOS Other MacOS OS2 Unix Windows Linux

During the late 1980's, WordPerfect was THE standard word processor for DOS based PCs in big business. Under DOS, it competed mostly against Wordstar. WordPerfect for Windows enjoyed some success in the early Windows environments, but was quickly displaced by Microsoft Word for Windows. Later Windows versions were part of Borland Office/Novell PerfectOffice/Corel Office/Corel WordPerfect Office.

Microsoft Word (1983)

273 Word Processor DOS MacOS Unix OS2 Windows

The Microsoft Word word processor was first introduced for MS-DOS in 1983. Its design made use of a mouse and WYSIWYG graphics. Its crude WYSIWYG/mouse support was a direct response to the Apple Lisa/Mac, and VisiCorp Visi On. Initially it competed against many popular word processors such as WordStar, Multimate, and WordPerfect. Word for DOS was never really successful.

Perfect Writer (1983)

4 Word Processor DOS

Perfect Writer, from Perfect Software, Inc, is a simple word processor for MS-DOS and CP/M-80 systems. It was bundled with many 8-bit CP/M systems and some early MS-DOS and IBM PC compatible computers. It was generally considered a low end entry-level product, but it was designed with portability in mind.

1.x

VisiSpell (1983)

5 Word Processor DOS

VisiSpell is a standalone spell checker for DOS, that is intended for use with VisiCorp VisiWord but can be used with any text document.

1.00

VisiWord (1983)

1 Word Processor DOS

VisiWord is a solid and well designed word processor for the IBM PC from VisiCorp. It was part of VisiCorp's integrated office application suite that also included VisiCalc, VisiFile, VisiSpell, VisiTrend/Plot, and VisiTutor. It competed against EasyWriter and Volkswriter. This software runs under DOS 1.x and DOS 2.x. A follow up update to VisiWord offered better integration with VisiSpell. a GUI based environment. But that did not catch on. The similarly named Visi On Word word processor is not directly related to VisiWord.

1.00

MultiMate (1983)

9 Word Processor DOS

MultiMate, originally named WordMate, is a word processor designed to mimic the user interface of Wang word processing machines. It was primarily sold to large businesses, but eventually became popular with home users that were familiar with the Wang word processors. Later versions were bundled with extra third party software under the name MultiMate Advantage.

NewWord (1983)

4 Word Processor DOS

NewWord is a clone of WordStar created by former MicroPro employees. It filled a gap for WordStar users as WordStar 3.3 went unupdated, and eventually became the basis for WordStar 4.0.

1.x

Peachtext 5000 (1983)

4 Word Processor Financial Database DOS

PeachText 5000 is a complete personal productivity system for word processing, financial modeling, mailing lists and simple database management. It contains a thesaurus, spell checker, and file conversion tools.

2.x

PFS:Write (1983)

8 Word Processor DOS

PFS:Write, originally from Software Publishing Corporation and later sold to Spinnaker Software, was an early and easy to use word processor for the IBM PC and Apple II. It was also licensed by IBM as IBM Writing Assistant. It can exchange data between PFS:Graph, PFS:File, and PFS:Report. SPC later replaced PFS:Write with Professional Write. Early versions had no built in spell checker, and were instead used with PFS:Proof.

WordVision (1983)

2 Word Processor DOS

WordVision was a word processor from 1983 for the IBM PC with some features unique for the time period, such as unerase, automatic document saving, and long descriptive filenames at a time when DOS did not contain that support. self booting: You booted from it to create working copies. The typical error beep was also replaced with a more pleasing "chime" sound while the program operated.

1.x

FinalWord (1983)

7 Word Processor DOS

FinalWord is a powerful word processor that started off as an adaptation of EMACS. It is a complicated program that uses manually embedded format codes, but it was targeted at professional writers where typesetting detail is important. Its strength is the ability to work with very long and complex documents. It supports headers, footers, table contents generation, index creation, footnotes, typestyle changes, outlining, tables and charts, multiple column layout. Final Word II adds support for Postscript and user-customizable print formatting commands. machines. There were versions for CP/M and the Atari ST.

1.x
2.x

IN:SCRIBE (1983)

2 Word Processor DOS

IN:SCRIBE is text editor tailored specifically for the Bytec Hyperion, a Canadian luggable that beat Compaq to the market, but is not quite 100% IBM PC compatible.

1.x

HomeWord (1983)

2 Word Processor DOS

HomeWord, from Seierra On-Line, is a friendly simplified word processor targeted at home users. It was originally released for the Apple II and ported to the IBM PC, C64, and Atari. It competed with other simplified home-oriented word processors such as BankStreet Writer. It was followed up by HomeWord Plus and HomeWord II

Electric Pencil (1983)

0 Word Processor DOS

Electric Pencil, which first appeared in 1976 for the MITS Altiar, is the first word processor for home/micro computer systems. It was ported to many other systems, including the SOL-20, NothStar Horizon, and TRS-80. Eventually an enhanced/re-written version was created for the IBM PC.

PC

EagleWriter (1983)

1 Word Processor DOS

EagleWriter by Lexisoft is a word processing and office management package that offers flexible print format and output capabilities, macro capabilities, and ease of use. EagleWriter is customized for the Eagle computer function keys and help feature.

2.0

Friday! (1983)

9 PIM Database DOS

Friday! is an early simplified database filing system, sometimes considered a personal information manager, built on top of dBase II. It is easily customizable, completely menu driven, simple, and easy to use. It was targeted at new computer users, and lacks advanced functionally. There were versions for both DOS and CP/M.

1.x
2.x

XyWrite (1984)

2 Word Processor DOS Windows

XyWrite is a word processor for MS-DOS and Windows modeled on the mainframe-based ATEX typesetting system. Popular with writers and editors for its speed and degree of customization, XyWrite was in its heyday the house word processor in many editorial offices, including the New York Times from 1989 to 1993. XyWrite was developed by David Erickson and marketed by XyQuest from 1982 through 1992, after which it was acquired by The Technology Group. The final version for MS-DOS was 4.18 (1993); for Windows, 4.13. An offshoot descendant of XyWrite called Nota Bene is still being actively developed.