Word processors

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 314.

III. Read and translate the following text.

A word processor (document preparation system (DPS)) is a computer application used for creating (editing, formatting and printing) materials. The term «word processing» was invented by IBM in the late 1960s. IBM's Mag Tape Selectric Typewriter (MTST) and later Mag-Card Selectric (MCST) were the first devices, which allowed to work with documents. In the early 1970's, computer scientist Harold Koplow was hired by Wang Laboratories to program calculators. One of his programs allowed a Wang calculator to interact with an IBM Selectric typewriter. In 1974, Koplow's interface program was used in the Wang 1200 Word Processor, an IBM Selectric-based text-storage device. The machine operator typed the text on a conventional IBM Selectric and, when the Return key was pressed, the line of the text was stored on the cassette tape. One cassette stored approximately 20 pages of the text and could be «played back» by printing the contents onto the paper and the stored text could be edited, too. Basic editing functions were Insert, Delete and Skip.

Wang 1200 machine was the precursor of the Wang Office Information System (OIS) introduced in 1976. Its CRT-based system was a breakthrough in word processing technology. It displayed the text on a CRT screen and incorporated virtually every fundamental characteristic of word processors. It was a true office machine, affordable by medium-sized law firms and small organizations. The Wang was not the first CRT-based machine because in the early 1970s, Linolex, Lexitron and Vydec introduced pioneering word-processing systems with CRT display editing.

Automatic Electronic Systems, a Canadian company, introduced a product similar to Wang's one in 1973. It was the first office product, AES-90, that combined a CRT-screen, a floppy-disk and a microprocessor, i.e., the combination that would be used by IBM for its PC seven years later. The AES-90 software was able to support French and English languages. The first eight devices were delivered to the office of the then Prime Minister, Pierre-Elliot Trudeau, in February 1974. Some of the earliest CRT-based machines used cassette tapes for removable-memory storage until floppy diskettes became available for this purpose. With the rise of personal computers, software-based word processors gradually displaced dedicated word processors and the term referred to software rather than hardware. MacWrite, Microsoft Word and other word processing programs were introduced in 1984. They were probably the first true WYSIWYG word processors known to many people before the introduction of Microsoft Windows.

Word processing functions include a «spell checker», «grammar checker» and «thesaurus». Word processors can be distinguished from several other forms of software, such as text editors (e.g., Notepad, Emacs), which were the precursors of word processors. Text editors are now used mainly by programmers, website designers and computer systems administrators. Almost all word processors enable users to employ styles, which are used to automate consistent formatting text body, titles, subtitles and highlighted text. Most current word processors can calculate various statistics: characters, words, sentences and lines.

Word processors have variety of applications within the business world, home and education. Businesses tend to have their own format and style. Thus, versatile word processors are widely used in most businesses. Many schools have begun to teach their students typing and word processing. Undergraduate students spend a lot of hours writing essays, as well as creating research works. They often contain 200 pages and are typically the defining point of a student's career.

Now word processors have become sophisticated systems which include more than three programs to edit texts, tables, databases and presentations. People use word processors very often to make reports, write letters and print documents. There are many commercial and open-source word processing applications, such as OpenOffice.org Writer and KWord. On-line word processors (e.g., Google Docs) are a relatively new category. But Microsoft Word is the most widely used computer word processing system. For a long time it was considered to be the main program in Microsoft Office. DOC format is considered to be the de facto standard, although its the most recent version, Word 2007, can also use a new XML-based, Microsoft Office-optimized format called .DOCX. This format has been standardized by ECMA as Office Open XML and it is available for the Windows and Mac platforms.

IV. Answer the following questions:

1. Who invented the term «word processing»?

2. What is Harold Koplow famous for?

3. How many pages of the text can be stored on IBM Selectric?

4. When was Wang Office Information System introduced?

5. What is AES-90 famous for?

6. What is a «spell checker»?

7. What commercial and open-source word processing applications do you know?

8. Is Microsoft Word available for Mac platform?