Word vs. WordPerfect

If you can overlook the abominable layout, this thorough description of the technical differences between the file formats of WordPerfect and Microsoft Word serves as an interesting analog to the difference between tag-soup HTML and properly applied, CSS-formatted semantic HTML.

Their current relative market shares might be considered somewhat significant. Also, note the difficulty in translating WordPerfect's proprietary printing system to the standard Windows model. I remember dealing with that particular problem with my clients around the time of the DOS-to-Windows shift, and the idiocy of having to install an application-specific printer driver for a Windows program still boggles my mind today.

Like most Microsoft competitors, it seemed like they were determined to help Microsoft win their market as quickly as possible.

I'm Anil Dash, and I've been blogging here since 1999, writing about how culture is made. Contact me at anil@dashes.com, at +1 646 833 8659, or at anildash on Twitter or IM. Find out more »

If you're new to the site, check out my Best Of and Most Popular things I've written in the past 10 years, or explore the full archives. Browse by month or year using the calendar below.

Powered by Hunch.com

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
  Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan
  Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb
  Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar
  Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr
  May May May May May May May May May May
  Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun
Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul
Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep
Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct
Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov
Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec