Comparison of word processors

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[edit] General information

This table provides general information about selected word processors.

Word Processor Screenshot Creator Latest Stable Version First Release License
AbiWord AbiWord SourceGear Corporation 2.8.6  (June 13, 2010; 19 months ago (2010-06-13)) May 19, 1999 (1999-05-19) Open source (GPL)
AppleWorks Apple Inc. 6.2.9 January 4, 2004; 8 years ago (2004-01-04) 1984 (1984) Commercial, Proprietary
Applix Word Vistasource Inc. 6.0 1992 Commercial, Proprietary
Atlantis Nova Rising Sun Solutions, Inc 1.0.0.70 Earliest copyright date in the About Window is from 2000 Freeware
Atlantis Word Processor Rising Sun Solutions, Inc 1.6.5.0 (Jan 2010) Earliest copyright date in the About Window is from 2000 Commercial, Proprietary
Bean James Hoover 3.0.1  (December 24, 2011; 41 days ago (2011-12-24)) May 1, 2007 (2007-05-01) Open source (GPL)
Calligra Words (formerly KWord) KWord KDE 2.2 (May 28, 2010; 19 months ago (2010-05-28)) 1998 Open source (LGPL)
Celframe Office Write Celframe Office 2008 (2008) 2005 Commercial, Proprietary
CopyDesk Quark, Inc. 7 (2007) 1991 Commercial, Proprietary
EZ Word The Andrew Consortium 7.5 (1996) 1985 Open source (BSD license)
FrameMaker Adobe Systems Incorporated 10.0 (January 11, 2011; 12 months ago (2011-01-11)) 1986 Commercial, Proprietary
Gobe Productive Gobe Software 3 Aug 1998 Commercial, Proprietary
Han/Gul (HWP) Haansoft 7.0.2.226(2007) 1989 Commercial, Proprietary
Ichitaro JustSystems 20 / Ichitaro 2010 1983 Commercial, Proprietary
InCopy Adobe Systems Incorporated 5.0 (2007) 1999 Commercial, Proprietary
Jarte (Free and Pro) Jarte Carolina Road Software, LLC 4.1  (March 29, 2010; 21 months ago (2010-03-29)) July 2001; 10 years ago (2001-07) Freeware or Commercial, Proprietary
Kingsoft Writer (Free and Pro) Kingsoft 2012 8.1.0.3016(November 9, 2011; 2 months ago (2011-11-09)) 1989 (1989) Freeware or Commercial, Proprietary
LibreOffice Writer LibreOffice Writer The Document Foundation 3.4.4 (November 9, 2011; 2 months ago (2011-11-09)) January 25, 2011 (2011-01-25) Open source (LGPL)
Lotus Symphony Lotus Software 3.0 2008 Freeware (Registerware)
Lotus Word Pro Lotus Software 9.8.5 (2007) 1989 (Originally Samna Ami Pro) Commercial, Proprietary
LyX LyX The LyX Project 2.0 (May 8, 2011; 8 months ago (2011-05-08)) 1995 Open source (GPL)
Mariner Write Mariner software 3.7.2 1996 Commercial, Proprietary
Mellel RedleX 2.9.1 (Build 1) as of Jan 7, 2011 2002 Commercial, Proprietary
Microsoft Word Microsoft Corporation March 24, 2010; 21 months ago (2010-03-24) May 2, 1983 (1983-05-02) Commercial, Proprietary
Microsoft Works Microsoft Corporation 9.0 October, 1987 (MS Works for DOS) Commercial, Proprietary
NeoOffice Writer NeoOffice Writer Planamesa Software 3.2.1  (August 30, 2011; 5 months ago (2011-08-30)) June 22, 2003 (2003-06-22) Open source (GPL)
Nisus Writer Nisus Software 7.0 (Express) 1989 Commercial, Proprietary
OpenOffice.org Writer OpenOffice.org Writer Sun Microsystems 3.3.0  (January 25, 2011; 12 months ago (2011-01-25)) April 30, 2002 (2002-04-30) Open source (LGPL)
Pages AbiWord Apple Inc. 4.1  (July 20, 2011; 6 months ago (2011-07-20)) January 11, 2005 (2005-01-11) Commercial, Proprietary
PolyEdit PolySoft Solutions 5.2 1998 Commercial, Proprietary
SSuite WordGraph Van Loo Software 8.2 2002 Freeware
StarOffice Sun Microsystems 9 1994 Commercial, Proprietary - LGPL Version is released as Open Office
StarOffice Writer
from Google Pack
Sun Microsystems 8 1994 Commercial, Proprietary - LGPL Version is released as Open Office
Ted Ted Mark de Does 2.21 (October 2009) 1999 Open source (GPL)
TextEdit Apple TextEdit Apple Inc. 1.7 (289.3)  (October 12, 2011; 3 months ago (2011-10-12)) Around 1993? as part of NeXT's OPENSTEP OS which later became part of Mac OS X Open source (BSD license)
TextMaker SoftMaker Software GmbH 2010 1987[1][2] Freeware or Commercial, Proprietary
Freeware - SoftMaker Office 2006,
Commercial - SoftMaker Office 2008 and later versions
WordFile4ME Byron Software 4.55.21 Earliest copyright date in the Readme File is 1999 Commercial, Proprietary
WordPad Microsoft Corporation 6.1.7600.16385 1995 Commercial, Proprietary
WordPerfect Corel Corporation X5  (March 23, 2010; 22 months ago (2010-03-23)) 1980 (1980) Commercial, Proprietary
Word Processor Screenshot Creator Latest Stable Version First Release License

[edit] Characteristics

This table gives characteristics of each word processor.

Word Processor Grammar checker Cross referencing Bibliography Graphic editing Mail merging Spell checker Smartfont typography [3] Math support Conditional text
AbiWord Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
AppleWorks ? ? Yes Yes
Applix Word ? ?
Atlantis Word Processor ? ? Yes
Bean No ? ? No No Yes
Celframe Office Write Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
CopyDesk No ? ? No Yes
EZ Word ? ?
FrameMaker No Yes[4] ? Yes No Yes No Yes[5] Yes[6]
Gobe Productive ? ?
GNU TeXmacs No Yes Yes Yes (only own graphics) No Yes No Yes
Groff ? ?
Han/Gul Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes No
Ichitaro Yes (for Japanese) ? ? Yes (for Japanese) No
InCopy No ? ? No Yes Yes[7]
Jarte No ? ? No No Yes No
KWord Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes No
LibreOffice Writer Yes (with extensions) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
IBM Lotus Symphony No ? ? Yes Yes Yes No
Lotus Word Pro Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes No
LyX Yes[8] 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
Microsoft Word Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No[9] Yes[10] No
Microsoft Works Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No
NeoOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Nisus Writer ? ?
OpenOffice.org Writer No Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes[11]
Pages Yes No Yes[12] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[13]
PolyEdit ? ? Yes
StarOffice Writer No ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes[14]
Ted No ? ? No No Yes
TextEdit Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes
TextMaker Yes ? ? Yes Yes
WordFile4ME ? ?
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 [3] Math support

[edit] Operating System Compatibility

This table gives a comparison of what operating systems are compatible with each word processor in their last 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
Celframe Office Write Yes Yes with Winehq Yes with Winehq No No No No No
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 No 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 No No Yes No
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
OpenOffice.org 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
SSuite WordGraph 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 No Yes Yes No No No No
WordFile4ME 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

[edit] 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[15] Yes Yes No Yes
Bean Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
Celframe Office Write Yes Yes with Plug-ins Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes with convertor No Yes
CopyDesk Yes No No Yes Yes Yes
FrameMaker No No No Yes Yes No
GNU TeXmacs Yes Yes 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[16]
KWord Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[17] 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
OpenOffice.org 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
RedOffice Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
SSuite WordGraph Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No
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 No Yes Yes 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

[edit] Export or Save capabilities

This table gives a comparison of the file formats each word processor can export or save.

Word Processor HTML LaTeX ODF .odt PDF RTF Word .doc WordPerfect OOXML .docx UOF
AbiWord Yes Yes Yes Partial (Linux ver.)[18] Yes Yes Yes disabled [2] Yes[19] No
Atlantis Word Processor Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes
Bean Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Celframe Office Write Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes with convertor Yes
CopyDesk Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
FrameMaker Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No
GNU TeXmacs Yes Yes 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[20] 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 No
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 Yes Yes No
Microsoft Works Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No No
NeoOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
OpenOffice.org Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Pages No No No Yes Yes Yes No No
PolyEdit Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes
RedOffice Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
SSuite WordGraph Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No No
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 (ver 2008) Yes Yes 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

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Andy Updegrove (2006-07-05). "The Emerging ODF Environment, Part IV: Spotlight on SoftMaker Office 2006". http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=2006070509040463. Retrieved 2010-03-28. 
  2. ^ "SoftMaker". 1997-06-03. Archived from the original on 1997-06-03. http://web.archive.org/web/19970603185546/http://www.softmaker.de/main.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-28. 
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FrameMaker/9.0/Using/WSFA7402BF-4AA8-4a80-ABC9-70B8FCE2C8E4.html
  5. ^ Adobe Systems, "Edit equations," <http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FrameMaker/9.0/Using/WSF12494BC-2ECA-4d4d-8BA8-2CC2CB9B9E1A.html>, [retrieved January 21, 2012]
  6. ^ 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]
  7. ^ Adobe Systems, "Use conditional text," <http://help.adobe.com/en_US/InCopy/6.0/WS745C7188-1C17-4eae-8680-2F7C80DE6849.html>, [Retrieved January 21, 2012]
  8. ^ LyX wiki | Tools / LyX Grammar Checker
  9. ^ Partial support for some OpenType features in MS Word 2010, ie. ligatures, old-style figures, but not true small caps.
  10. ^ MS Equation and MathType
  11. ^ Support for Graphite Font Technology from version 3.2
  12. ^ End notes/bibliography supported with EndNote X2 (third party)
  13. ^ With third party add-ons: LaTeX or MathType.
  14. ^ Support for Graphite Font Technology from version 3.2
  15. ^ Atlantis Word Processor supported file formats [1]
  16. ^ Requires Microsoft's free Office Compatibility Pack
  17. ^ http://www.koffice.org/news/koffice-2-2-released/
  18. ^ http://www.abisource.com/twiki/bin/view/Abiword/FaqCreatingPDFs
  19. ^ http://www.abisource.com/changelogs/2.6.5.phtml
  20. ^ Requires presence of a PDF virtual printer.

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