Introducing Microsoft Word 2.0, Part 1

Found an old VHS tape from Microsoft that talks about why Word 2.0 is so much better than WordPerfect.

This is the beginning of the end for WordPerfect

No idea of the date, but it must be the early 90's?

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• microsoft
• office
• word
• 2.0
• wordperfect
• history
• archive
• archives

[Macintosh3745]

i still use wordperfect.

[0814ma]

...9 (1999), 10 (2001), 11 (2003), 12 (2004), X3 (2006), and X4 (2008), but lacks the engineering and marketing resources to compete head-on with Microsoft. I use X4 as my primary word processor and am very pleased with it, even though the program has remained basically the same for many years now.

WordPerfect has fared better than the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet. (I believe IBM still sells it, believe it or not.) 1-2-3 1.0 for Windows was a complete disaster that spurred the transition to Excel.

[0814ma]

...forthcoming.

(Borland originally sold Quattro Pro and Paradox. I should have made that clear in my previous comment.)

In early 1996, Novell sold PerfectOffice to Corel for what was described as a "firesale" (extremely cheap) price. Corel released WordPerfect 7 Suite, a 32-bit Windows 95 version, in May 1996. It garnered some positive press attention, but by that time the pendulum had swung decisively in Microsoft's favor. Corel has continued to release new versions - 8 (1997)...

[0814ma]

...and Paradox (a spreadsheet and a database, respectively) and integrated them into a suite called PerfectOffice (early 1995). (Borland and WordPerfect had already collaborated on a pseudo-suite called Borland Office.)

PerfectOffice was creamed in the marketplace by Microsoft Office. Novell mismanaged the WordPerfect division nearly into oblivion. When Windows 95 came out in August 1995, Novell made a tepid promise to deliver a 95-compatible version of PerfectOffice, but no product was...

[0814ma]

WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows was very powerful and flexible, but it was also *very* buggy, slow, and somewhat clumsy. Word 6.0 had its own problems - the Mac version, ported from Windows, is justifiably maligned as one of the worst word processors of all time - but it was generally more "well put together," for lack of a better term.

WordPerfect 6.0a for Windows (April 1994) fixed the bugs, but by that time WordPerfect Corp. had already been sold to Novell. Novell also bought Quattro Pro...

[0814ma]

...former for its slow performance, numerous bugs, and awkward integration into Windows, while praising the latter for its overall polish.

I actually have WordPerfect 5.2 for Windows - basically 5.1 with a few minor enhancements. It is a very powerful and usable program, but it is clearly about half a software generation behind Word 2.0.

The s--- really hit the fan for WordPerfect Corp. in late 1993, when WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows came out nearly simultaneously with Word 6.0 for Windows.

[0814ma]

...and experienced major difficulties in attempting to get the product out the door. It was originally promised for late 1990, then pushed back to the spring of '91, then the summer, and finally the fall. In fact, the company held a contest where users tried to guess the number of copies that would be sold; the winner of the contest received $100,000 or something like that.

In essence, WordPerfect 1.0 for Windows came out simultaneously with Word 2.0 for Windows. The press lambasted the...

[0814ma]

...for OS/2 2.0; Microsoft took over OS/2 3.0, which became Windows NT - the precursor to Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and now 7.)

Microsoft began working on Word 1.0 for Windows around 1986 or 1987. (Word 1.0 for DOS came out in late 1983, Word 1.0 for the Mac in early 1985.) It did not come out until early 1990, a few months before Windows 3.0 came out (May 22, 1990) and blew OS/2 1.x out of the water.

WordPerfect Corp. did not start working on its Windows version until late May 1990...

[0814ma]

Word 2.0 came out in mid-October 1991, WordPerfect 5.1 for Windows (really version 1.0) in early November 1991.

In the late 1980s, most of the major software developers (including WordPerfect and Lotus) were concentrating their development resources on OS/2. IBM and Microsoft - yes, Microsoft - were both pushing OS/2 as the system of the future. (OS/2 began as a joint development project between IBM and Microsoft. After the two companies "divorced" in 1990, IBM took over responsibility...