Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

World Wide Web 517• an extensive online help system including “wizards”to guide the user step-by-step through various tasksAs word processors become more extensive in theircapabilities, it has become harder to distinguish them fromprograms designed to create precise copy for publication(see desktop publishing). However, copy prepared bywriters with a word processor must generally be furtherprocessed through a desktop publishing or in-house computerizedtypography system.At the other end of the spectrum many users find thatword processors are “overkill” for making simple notes. Avariety of programs for entering simple text are available,including the Notepad program that comes with Windows.There are also applications for which plain text must beproduced, without the formatting codes added by word processors.In particular, programmers often use specializedediting programs to create source code (see text editor).TrendsToday word processing programs are generally part of anoffice software suite such as Microsoft Office, Corel Office,or Open Office. Documents created by other components ofthe suite can be embedded in word processing documents.(In Windows, object linking and embedding [OLE] is a systemthat allows for embedded documents to be automaticallyupdated and to be edited using the functions of thehost program. Thus, an Excel spreadsheet embedded in aWord document can be worked in place using the standardExcel interface.)There are also features that can facilitate collaborationbetween workers in a networked office, such as by keepingtrack of revisions made by various people working on thesame document.A new alternative is the free (or low-cost) online wordprocessor such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets and ZohoWriter. These products can be used from any Web browserand facilitate the central storage of documents for mobileusers (see application service provider).As with other applications, word processors are increasinglybeing integrated with the Web, and include the abilityto create HTML documents. In turn, the programs specificallydesigned for creating HTML documents now havemany word-processor features including templates, styles,and the visual representation of the page.Further ReadingCox, Joyce, and Joan Preppernau. Microsoft Office Word 2007 Stepby Step. Redmond, Wash.: Microsoft Press, 2007.Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Available online. URL: http://www.docs.google.com. Accessed August 23, 2007.Kunde, Brian. “A Brief History of Word Processing (Through1986).” Available online. URL: http://www.stanford.edu/~bkunde/fb-press/articles/wdprhist.html. Accessed August23, 2007.Open Office.org. Available online. URL: http://www.openoffice.org/. Accessed August 23, 2007.Petrie, Michael. “A Potted History of WordStar.” Available online.URL: http://www.wordstar.org/wordstar/history/history.htm.Accessed August 23, 2007.Zoho Writer (online word processor). Available online. URL:http://writer.zoho.com/jsp/home.jsp?serviceurl=%2Findex.do. Accessed August 23, 2007.workstationLike minicomputer, workstation is a rather slippery termwhose meaning and significance has changed somewhatwith the growing power of desktop PCs.In the late 1960s and 1970s, most “personal” computingwas done by individuals connected to time-sharing mainframesor minicomputers by terminals. Generally, the terminalscould only display text, not graphics.However, researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto ResearchCenter (PARC) began to develop a more powerful computerfor individual use (see Englebart, Douglas and Kay,Alan). The Xerox Alto had a high-resolution bitmappedgraphics display and a mouse-controlled graphical userinterface. While it was expensive and not very successfulcommercially, the Alto set the stage for the Macintosh in1984 and for Microsoft Windows.Although the desktop PCs of the 1980s such as the IBMPC had some graphics capabilities, the machines lacked thecapacity for graphics-intensive applications such as engineeringdesign and the generation of movie effects. Ledby Sun and Silicon Graphics (SGI), the high-performancegraphics workstation emerged as a distinctive product category.These machines used relatively powerful microprocessors(such as the Sun SPARC and the MIPS) with instructionsets optimized for speed (see risc). These systems generallyran UNIX as their operating system.However, by the late 1990s, ordinary desktop PCs werecatching up to dedicated workstations in terms of processingpower and graphics features. By 2002, a desktop PCcosting about $2,000 offered a 2-GB processor, 256 MB ofRAM, 120 GB hard drive, and an optimized 3D graphicscard that can drive displays up to 1600 by 1200 pixels ormore. These systems can run Windows NT or XP, or, forusers preferring UNIX, Linux offers a robust and inexpensiveoperating system. This sort of system rivals the capabilitiesof a dedicated workstation while offering all of theversatility of a general-purpose PC. As a result, the termworkstation today refers more to a way of using a computerthan to a specific class of hardware. Machines are thoughtof as workstations if they emphasize graphics performanceand are dedicated to particular activities such as science,imaging, engineering, design (see also computer-aideddesign and manufacturing), or video editing.Further ReadingGoldberg, Adele. A History of Personal Workstations. Reading,Mass.: Addison-Wesley/ACM, 1988.Sun Microsystems. The New User’s Guide to Sun Workstation. NewYork: Springer-Verlag, 1991.World Wide WebIn little more than a decade the World Wide Web hasbecome nearly as ubiquitous as the telephone and hasbecome for many a preferred medium for shopping, news,entertainment, and education. Some cultural observersbelieve that this vast system of linked information may behaving an impact on society as great as that of the inventionof the printing press more than five centuries earlier.