Note
Key Features:
WYSIWYG Interface: Word for Windows 1.1 provided a “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) interface, allowing users to see how their documents would look when printed
Mouse Support: It included support for mouse input, which was a significant improvement over text-based word processors1.
Fonts and Formatting: Users could choose from various fonts and apply different formatting options, such as bold, italics, and underline
Graphics and Tables: The software allowed the insertion of graphics and tables, making it more versatile for creating complex documents
Historical Context:
Competition: At the time, Word for Windows competed with other word processors like WordPerfect and Ami Pro. Despite being a late entrant to the Windows platform, it quickly gained popularity due to its user-friendly interface and integration with other Microsoft products
Legacy: This version laid the groundwork for future iterations of Microsoft Word, which would go on to become the dominant word processing software in the market
Availability
Source Code: The source code for Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a has been made available by the Computer History Museum, providing a valuable resource for those interested in the history of software developmentNote
First version 1.0 code named “Opus” was released in 1989