Word processors are software programs that can be used for writing and typing up documents. Most of you have heard of Microsoft Word. Well, Microsoft Word is a good example of a word processor!
Using word processors, you can type up that history report that you've put off until the last minute, you can type up that letter to your grandmother that your mom's been bugging you to write, or you can type up that letter to your friend who's recently moved across the country. As a matter of fact, word processors are one of the most common uses for computers! Nearly everybody has used one sometime- whether it be to type up a critical essay about the themes found in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet or to type up a letter to the telephone company questioning them about the amazingly high telephone bills last month.
All word processors have the same basic capabilities. First, you can type up your documents, essays, letters, etc (duh!). After you've typed them up, you can use certain functions like spell check and grammar check to revise and edit your composition. Spell check will scan your document for any spelling errors, then give you a list of correctly spelled words from which you can choose the word you wanted. On the other hand, grammar check will scan your document for errors like sentence fragments, noun and verb agreements, and other little grammar details. Finally, when you're satisfied with your masterpiece, you can choose to print a hard copy of it, or to even fax or e-mail it to a friend!
Many word processors even contain other features. Some may have a thesaurus. This is particularly useful when you notice that you've been using one word too many times throughout your composition. By highlighting the word, and then clicking on the thesaurus, you can choose good-sounding synonyms to use instead of the too-frequently-used word. Also, all word processors will give you a wide variety of fonts, font sizes, and font colors to choose from. This gives your documents really cool looks! Finally, word processors often give you features like bold, italic, and underline. These are pretty straightforward!
As you can see, word processors have
become a part of many of our every day lives. Most teachers require that the
final drafts of essays and papers be typed. This would only be possible if
computers had word processors! Additionally, typed papers look much neater
and better than handwritten ones!
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Spreadsheets
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