Editing WordPerfect (section)

{{Short description|Word processing application}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}

{{Infobox software
| screenshot = WordPerfectX3.png
| caption    = A document being edited in WordPerfect X3
| author     = [[Brigham Young University]]<br />Satellite Software International (SSI)
| developer  = WordPerfect Corporation<br />[[Novell]]<br />[[Alludo]] (formerly Corel)
| released   = {{Start date and age|1979}}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q174757|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q174757|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q174757|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q174757|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| operating system = [[Windows 7]] and later<ref>{{cite web |title = WordPerfect Office X8 |url = http://www.wordperfect.com/rw/product/office-suite/#sysreqs |website = wordperfect.com |publisher = Corel Corporation |access-date = June 10, 2016 }}</ref>
| platform   = [[IA-32]]
| genre      = Word processor
| license    = Proprietary
| website    = {{URL|https://www.wordperfect.com/en/}}
}}
{{Infobox company
| name=WordPerfect Corporation
| logo=WordPerfect Corporation wordmark.svg
| founded={{Start date and age|1979}} in [[Orem, Utah]]
| founders={{ubl|[[Bruce Bastian]]|[[Alan C. Ashton]]}}
| defunct={{End date and age|1994}}
| fate=Sold to [[Novell]]; most assets in turn sold to [[Corel]] in 1996
| industry=[[Software]]
}}
'''WordPerfect''' ('''WP''') is a [[word processing]] application, now owned by [[Alludo]],<ref name="Brinkley.NYT2K"/> with a long history on multiple personal computer platforms. At the height of its popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the market leader of word processors, displacing the prior market leader [[WordStar]].

It was originally developed under contract at [[Brigham Young University]] for use on a [[Data General]] [[minicomputer]] in the late 1970s. The authors retained the rights to the program, forming the Utah-based '''Satellite Software International''' ('''SSI''') in 1979 to sell it; the program first came to market under the name '''SSI*WP''' in March 1980.<ref name="columbia.edu"/> It then moved to the [[MS-DOS]] operating system in 1982, by which time the name WordPerfect was in use,<ref name="columbia.edu"/> and several greatly updated versions quickly followed. The application's feature list was considerably more advanced than its main competition [[WordStar]]. Satellite Software International changed its name to '''WordPerfect Corporation''' in 1985.<ref name="columbia.edu"/>

WordPerfect gained praise for its "look of sparseness" and clean display.<ref>{{cite book |title = Whole Earth Software Catalog |year = 1989 |isbn = 9780385233019 |url = https://archive.org/stream/Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog_for_1986_1985_Point/Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog_for_1986_1985_Point_djvu.txt |quote = With all that it's capable of, I'm impressed by WORDPERFECT'S look of spareness. Sometimes it feels crippled to me, but crippled smart. |last1 = Brand |first1 = Stewart |publisher = Quantum Press/Doubleday }}</ref> It rapidly displaced most other systems, especially after the 4.2 release in 1986, and it became the standard in the DOS market by version 5.1 in 1989.  Its early popularity was based partly on its availability for a wide variety of computers and operating systems, and also partly because of extensive, no-cost support, with "hold jockeys" entertaining users while waiting on the phone.<ref name="AlmostPerfect12">{{harvp|Peterson|2012}} Chapter 12: [http://www.wordplace.com/ap/ap_chap12.shtml Prosperity].</ref>

Its dominant position ended after a failed release for [[Microsoft Windows]]; the company blamed the failure on Microsoft for not initially sharing its Windows [[Application Programming Interface]] (API) specifications, causing the application to be slow. After WordPerfect received the Windows APIs, there was a long delay in reprogramming before introducing an improved version. [[Microsoft Word]] had been introduced at the same time as their first attempt, and ''Word'' took over the market because it was faster, and was promoted by aggressive bundling deals that ultimately produced [[Microsoft Office]]. WordPerfect was no longer a popular standard by the mid-1990s. WordPerfect Corporation was sold to [[Novell]] in 1994, which then sold the product to Corel in 1996. Corel (since rebranded as [[Alludo]]) has made regular releases to the product since then, often in the form of office suites under the WordPerfect name that include the [[Quattro Pro]] spreadsheet, the [[Corel Presentations|Presentations]] slides formatter, and other applications.

The common [[filename extension]] of WordPerfect document files is <code>.wpd</code>. Older versions of WordPerfect also used file extensions <code>.wp</code>, <code>.wp7</code>, <code>.wp6</code>, <code>.wp5</code>, <code>.wp4</code>, and originally, no extension at all.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.file-extensions.org/corel-wordperfect-file-extensions |title = Corel WordPerfect file extensions }}</ref>