Comparison of word processors

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a comparison of word processing software.

General information[]

This table provides general information about selected word processors.

Word processor Screenshot Creator Latest stable version First release Cost License
AbiWord AbiWord 3.0.5 (Linux) / 2.8.6 (Windows) (3 July 2021; 2 months ago (2021-07-03)) [1] 1999 (May 19) (1999 (May 19)) No cost GPL-2.0-or-later
Apache OpenOffice Writer Aoo writer 3.4.png Apache Software Foundation (2011 – present) 4.1.10 (May 4, 2021; 4 months ago (2021-05-04)) 2012 (May 8) (2012 (May 8)) No cost Apache-2.0
AppleWorks Apple Inc. 6.2.9 January 4, 2004; 17 years ago (2004-01-04) 1991 (1991) Cost Proprietary
Applix Word 6.0 1992 (1992) Cost Proprietary
Atlantis Word Processor The Atlantis Word Processor Team 3.2.10 2000 (2000) No cost and cost Proprietary
Bean James Hoover 3.2.13 (May 3, 2019; 2 years ago (2019-05-03)) 2007 (May 1) (2007 (May 1)) No cost since 3.0 Proprietary
Calligra Words Calligra Words 2.4 screenshot.png KDE 3.2.0 (29 April 2020; 16 months ago (2020-04-29)[2]) 1998 (1998) No cost LGPL
Collabora Online Writer Collabora 6.4.11 (2 September 2021; 20 days ago (2021-09-02)[3]) 2016 No cost and cost MPL-2.0
CopyDesk Quark, Inc. 7 (2007) 1991 Cost Proprietary
EZ Word Andrew Project 7.5 (1996) 1985 No cost MIT-CMU
FrameMaker Adobe Systems Incorporated 15.0 (August 22, 2019; 2 years ago (2019-08-22)) 1986 Cost Proprietary
Gobe Productive Gobe Software 3 Aug 1998 Cost Proprietary
Google Docs Google 2006 No cost Proprietary
Han/Gul (HWP) Haansoft Hancom Office Han/Gul NEO (January 26, 2016) 1989 Cost Proprietary
Ichitaro JustSystems 20 / Ichitaro 2010 1983 Cost Proprietary
InCopy Adobe Systems Incorporated CC

June 17, 2013

1999 No cost Proprietary
Jarte (Free and Pro) Jarte 6.2 (April 22, 2018; 3 years ago (2018-04-22)) 2001 (July) (2001 (July)) No cost and cost Proprietary
Kingsoft Writer (Free and Pro) Kingsoft 2012 8.1.0.3016 (November 9, 2011; 9 years ago (2011-11-09)) 1989 (1989) No cost and cost Proprietary
LibreOffice Writer LibreOffice Writer 4 4 2 The Document Foundation
  • Early adopters:[4] 7.2.1 (16 September 2021; 6 days ago (2021-09-16)[5])
  • Longer-tested:[4] 7.1.6 (9 September 2021; 13 days ago (2021-09-09)[6])
2011 (January 25) (2011 (January 25)) No cost LGPL
Lotus Symphony Lotus Software 3.0 2008 ? Proprietary
Lotus Word Pro Lotus Software 9.8.5 (2007) 1989 (Originally Samna Ami Pro) Cost Proprietary
LyX LyX The LyX Project 2.3.6.1 (January 3, 2021; 8 months ago (2021-01-03)) 1995 No cost GPL-2.0-or-later
Mariner Write Mariner software 3.7.2 1996 Cost Proprietary
Mellel Mellel 4.1.0 (Build 19) as of March 19, 2018 2002 Cost Proprietary
Microsoft Word Microsoft Corporation 2019; 2 years ago (2019) 1983 (May 2) (1983 (May 2)) Cost Proprietary
Microsoft Works Microsoft Corporation 9.0 1987 (October) (MS Works for DOS) Cost Proprietary
1.4 2020 Cost Proprietary
NeoOffice Writer NeoOffice Writer Planamesa Software 2017.30[7] (September 2, 2021; 20 days ago (2021-09-02)) 2003 (June 22) (2003 (June 22)) No cost GPL
Nisus Writer 7.0 (Express) 1989 Cost Proprietary
ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors Ascensio System SIA 6.2.0 (March 18, 2021) 2016 No cost AGPL-3.0-only
Pages Apple Inc. 6.3.1 (November 11, 2017; 3 years ago (2017-11-11)) 2005 (January 11) (2005 (January 11)) Cost Proprietary
PolyEdit 5.2 1998 Cost Proprietary
StarOffice Sun Microsystems 9 1994 Cost Proprietary
StarOffice Writer
from Google Pack 		Sun Microsystems 8 1994 Cost Proprietary
TeXmacs TeXmacs Joris van der Hoeven 2.1 (June 22, 2021; 3 months ago (2021-06-22)) 1996 (1996)? No cost GPL-3.0-or-later
Ted Ted 2.23 (February 2013) 1999 No cost GPL-2.0-only
TextEdit Apple TextEdit Apple Inc. 1.16 (November 12, 2020; 10 months ago (2020-11-12)) 1993? (approximate date) as part of NeXT's OPENSTEP OS which later became part of Mac OS X No cost BSD-3-Clause
TextMaker SoftMaker 2021-01-18 1987[8][9] ? Proprietary
WPS Office Kingsoft 2019 1988 Cost Proprietary
WordPad Microsoft Corporation 10.0.19043.1237 (September 14, 2021; 8 days ago (2021-09-14)[10]) 1995 Cost Proprietary
WordPerfect Corel Corporation 2021 (May 6, 2021; 4 months ago (2021-05-06)) 1980 (1980) Cost Proprietary
Word processor Screenshot Creator Latest stable version First release Cost License

Characteristics[]

This table gives characteristics of each word processor.

Word processor Grammar checker Cross referencing Bibliography Graphic editing Mail merging Spell checker Smartfont typography[11] Math support Conditional text LTR/RTL
AbiWord Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes
AppleWorks ? ? Yes Yes ?
Atlantis Word Processor No Yes ? Yes No Yes ? No ? No
Bean No ? ? No No Yes ?
Collabora Online Writer Yes No No No No Yes No No No Yes
CopyDesk No ? ? No Yes ?
FrameMaker No Yes[12] ? Yes No Yes No Yes[13] Yes[14] ?
GNU TeXmacs No Yes Yes Yes (only own graphics) No Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Han/Gul Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes No Yes ?
Ichitaro Yes (for Japanese) ? ? Yes (for Japanese) No ?
InCopy No ? ? No Yes Yes[15] ?
Jarte No ? ? No No Yes ? ?
KWord Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes No ?
LibreOffice Writer Yes (4 languages on default installation and over 30 languages via extensions) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[16] Yes[17] Yes
IBM Lotus Symphony No ? ? Yes Yes Yes No ?
Lotus Word Pro Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes No ?
LyX Yes[18] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mariner Write No ? ? No Yes Yes No ? ?
Mathematica No ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Mellel Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Microsoft Word Yes (Support for additional languages available via language packs) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No[19] Yes[20] No Yes
Microsoft Works Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No ? ?
No Yes Yes No No Yes ? Yes No ?
NeoOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
OpenOffice Writer Yes (Via extensions) Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes[21] Yes[22] Yes[23] Yes
Pages Yes No Yes[24] Yes No Yes Yes Yes[25] ?
StarOffice Writer No ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes[21] ?
Ted No ? ? No No Yes ?
TextEdit Yes ? ? Yes No Yes Yes ?
TextMaker Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
WordPad No No Yes
WPS Office Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
WordPerfect Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No ?
Word processor Grammar checker Cross referencing Bibliography Graphic editing Mail merging Spell checker Smartfont typography[11] Math support Conditional text LTR/RTL

Operating system compatibility[]

This table shows the operating systems supported by the latest word processor version

Word processor Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD BeOS/Zeta AmigaOS/MorphOS UNIX Other
AbiWord Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (AOS: through X11 engine) Yes SkyOS
AppleWorks Yes Yes No No No No No No
Applix Word Yes No Yes No No No No No
Atlantis Word Processor Yes No No No No No No No
Bean No Yes No No No No No No
Collabora Online Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Android, Chrome OS, iOS, iPadOS
CopyDesk Yes Yes No No No No No No
EZ Word No No Yes No No No Yes No
FrameMaker Yes Version 7.1 and earlier No No No No Version 8 and earlier No
Gobe Productive Yes No No No No No No No
GNU TeXmacs Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
Groff Yes No Yes Yes No No No No
Han/Gul Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Ichitaro Yes No Yes No No No No No
InCopy Yes Yes No No No No No No
Jarte Yes No No No No No No No
KWord Yes (Alpha) No Yes Yes No No Yes No
LibreOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
IBM Lotus Symphony Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Lotus Word Pro Yes No No No No No No No
LyX Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes OS/2, Haiku, Chrome OS
Mariner Write No Yes No No No No No No
Mathematica Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No
Mellel No Yes No No No No No No
Microsoft Word Yes Yes No No No No No No
Microsoft Works Yes No No No No No No No
NeoOffice Writer No Yes No No No No No No
Nisus Writer No Yes No No No No No No
ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
OpenOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes OpenVMS
Pages No Yes No No No No No No
PolyEdit Yes No No No No No No No
StarOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Ted No No Yes Yes No No Yes Atari ST
TextEdit No Yes No No No No No No
TextMaker Yes Yes Yes No No No No Android
WPS Office Yes Yes Yes No No No No Android
WordPad Yes No No No No No No No
WordPerfect Yes No No (since 2000) No No No (last : AOS up to WP4.1 in 1987) No (since 1994) OpenVMS1
Word processor Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD BeOS/Zeta AmigaOS/MorphOS UNIX Other

1. can run unsupported Version 5.1

Import or open capabilities[]

This table gives a comparison of the file formats each word processor can import or open.

Word processor HTML LaTeX ODF .odt RTF Word .doc WordPerfect OOXML .docx SXW UOF
AbiWord Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Atlantis Word Processor No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
Bean Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
Collabora Online Writer Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
CopyDesk Yes No No Yes Yes Yes
FrameMaker No No No Yes Yes No
GNU TeXmacs yes, with MathML support yes, with BibTeX support No No No No No No No
Ichitaro Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
InCopy No No No Yes Yes No
Jarte No No No Yes Yes No Yes[26]
KWord Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[27] Yes No
LibreOffice Writer Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
IBM Lotus Symphony Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Lotus Word Pro Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No No
LyX Yes Yes Yes Yes with external program No No No No
Mariner Write No No No Yes No No
Mathematica Yes Yes No Yes No No
Microsoft Word Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Microsoft Works Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
NeoOffice Writer Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
OpenOffice Writer Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Pages No No No Yes Yes No Yes No
PolyEdit No No No Yes Yes Yes
StarOffice Writer Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ted No No No Yes No No No No No
TextEdit Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
TextMaker Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
WPS Office Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
WordPad Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No No
WordPerfect Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Word processor HTML LaTeX ODF .odt RTF Word .doc WordPerfect OOXML .docx SXW UOF

Export or save capabilities[]

This table gives a comparison of the file formats each word processor can export or save. In some cases, omitting an Export format (Microsoft Word's omission of WordPerfect export is the best known example) was a sales rather than a technical measure.

Word processor HTML LaTeX ODF .odt PDF RTF Word .doc WordPerfect OOXML .docx UOF
AbiWord Yes Yes Yes Partial (Linux ver.)[28] Yes Yes disabled[29] Yes[30] No
Atlantis Word Processor Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes No
Bean Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Collabora Online Writer No No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No
CopyDesk Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
FrameMaker Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No
GNU TeXmacs yes, with MathML equations yes, with BibTeX bibliography No Yes No No No No No
Ichitaro Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No No No
InCopy No No No Yes Yes No No
Jarte Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No No
KWord Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
LibreOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
IBM Lotus Symphony Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Lotus Word Pro Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No No
LyX Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Mariner Write No No No Yes Yes No No
Mathematica Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
Microsoft Word Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Microsoft Works Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No No
NeoOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes No
OpenOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Pages No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
PolyEdit Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes
StarOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Ted Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No
TextEdit Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
TextMaker Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
WPS Office Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
WordPad No No Yes No Yes No No Yes No
WordPerfect Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Word processor HTML LaTeX ODF .odt PDF RTF Word .doc WordPerfect OOXML .docx UOF

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "AbiWord". AbiSource. 3 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Calligra 3.2.0 released". Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  3. ^ "Collabora Online 6.4 release notes". collaboraoffice.com.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/
  5. ^ "LibreOffice 7.2.1 Community available for download". The Document Foundation. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  6. ^ "Announcement of LibreOffice 7.1.6 Community". The Document Foundation. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  7. ^ pluby (2 September 2021). "NeoOffice 2017.30 released". trinity.neooffice.org. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  8. ^ Andy Updegrove (2006-07-05). "The Emerging ODF Environment, Part IV: Spotlight on SoftMaker Office 2006". Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  9. ^ "SoftMaker". 1997-06-03. Archived from the original on 1997-06-03. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  10. ^ "September 14, 2021—KB5005565 (OS Builds 19041.1237, 19042.1237, and 19043.1237)". Microsoft Support. September 14, 2021.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Advanced typography refers to either support for Apple Advanced Typography or advanced OpenType typography features and all OpenType layout tables or Graphite font technology
  12. ^ "Adobe FrameMaker 9 * About cross-references". Help.adobe.com. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  13. ^ Adobe Systems, "Edit equations," <http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FrameMaker/9.0/Using/WSF12494BC-2ECA-4d4d-8BA8-2CC2CB9B9E1A.html>, [retrieved January 21, 2012]
  14. ^ Adobe Systems, "About conditional text," <http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FrameMaker/9.0/Using/WSF778A159-48A7-4f26-B04E-79509DDB38E8.html>, [retrieved January 21, 2012]
  15. ^ Adobe Systems, "Use conditional text," <http://help.adobe.com/en_US/InCopy/6.0/WS745C7188-1C17-4eae-8680-2F7C80DE6849.html>, [Retrieved January 21, 2012]
  16. ^ "Math Guide - Using the Formula Editor" (PDF). LibreOffice Documentation Team. March 22, 2015. pp. 39–46, 51–68. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  17. ^ LibreOffice, "Defining Conditions" <https://help.libreoffice.org/Writer/Defining_Conditions>, [Retrieved March 8, 2013]
  18. ^ LyX wiki | Tools / LyX Grammar Checker
  19. ^ Partial support for some OpenType features in MS Word 2010, ie. ligatures, old-style figures, but not true small caps.
  20. ^ LaTeX, MS Equation and MathType
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b Support for Graphite Font Technology from version 3.2
  22. ^ "Math Objects" (PDF). Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  23. ^ "Developing conditional content". Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  24. ^ End notes/bibliography supported with EndNote X2 (third party)
  25. ^ With third party add-ons: LaTeX or MathType.
  26. ^ Requires Microsoft's free Office Compatibility Pack Archived 2007-10-23 at archive.today
  27. ^ [1] Archived July 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  28. ^ "FaqCreatingPDFs - AbiWiki". Abisource.com. 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  29. ^ http://www.abisource.com/wiki/PluginMatrix
  30. ^ "AbiWord v2.6.5 ChangeLog". Abisource.com. Retrieved 2012-12-13.


Retrieved from ""