Introduction to word processors

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. Earlier, a typing mistake meant typing the whole page again. Today, you fix it in one second. Today we will learn what a word processor is, what it can do, and the parts of its window.

A word processor is software used to create, edit, format and print text documents. Create means typing new text, edit means changing it, and format means changing how it looks. You make every change on screen before anything is printed. The work is saved as a file, so you can open and use it again later.

There are many word processors you may meet. Microsoft Word is the most used in offices, and it comes with a paid Microsoft 365 plan. LibreOffice Writer is free and open source, which means anyone can use and study it. Google Docs is free and works online in a web browser. WordPad is a very basic program that came with Windows, and new versions of Windows have removed it.

Word processors are used almost everywhere. We write letters and job applications with them. Students prepare notes, assignments and project reports. Offices create forms, bills and notices for staff. People also design resumes and certificates.

Let us compare the old and the new way. To fix a mistake on a typewriter, you often retyped the page, but here you just delete and retype the word. Moving a paragraph was impossible, and now you cut and paste it. For copies you needed carbon paper, but now you can print any number. A typewriter left only paper, while a word processor saves a file.

Now the main features. Word wrap means that when a line is full, the text moves to the next line by itself. So you never press Enter in the middle of a paragraph. Spell check and grammar check underline mistakes for you. Formatting lets you change the font, size, bold and colour. You can insert tables, pictures and page numbers. Find and replace changes a word everywhere, and undo takes back your last action.

Now look at the window of a word processor. The title bar at the top shows the name of the file. Below it is the ribbon in Word, or the menu bar and toolbars in Writer, holding all the commands. The ruler above the page shows margins and tab stops. The work area in the middle is the page where you type. The status bar at the bottom shows the page number and word count.

One more important word. The cursor is the blinking line on the page that shows where your next letter will appear. It is also called the insertion point. Do not confuse it with the mouse pointer, which moves when you move the mouse.

Here is a question for you. You are typing a long sentence and you reach the right edge of the page. Pause and think, should you press Enter? No, you should keep typing. Word wrap moves the text to the next line automatically, and you press Enter only to start a new paragraph.

Every document is saved with a file extension, the letters after the dot in its name. Microsoft Word saves as .docx by default since Word 2007. Older Word versions used .doc. LibreOffice Writer saves as .odt, which is an open standard format. A .pdf file is best for sharing, because it looks the same on every device but is hard to edit.

Let us recap. A word processor is software to create, edit, format and print documents. Common examples are Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer and Google Docs. Its key features include word wrap, spell check, undo and find and replace. The main parts of its window are the title bar, the ribbon, the ruler and the status bar.