Editing WordStar (section)

== History ==
{{Further|MicroPro International}}

===Founding===
[[Seymour I. Rubinstein]] was an employee of early microcomputer company [[IMSAI]], where he negotiated software contracts with [[Digital Research]] and [[Microsoft]]. After leaving IMSAI, Rubinstein planned to start his own software company that would sell through the new network of retail computer stores. He founded [[MicroPro International|MicroPro International Corporation]] in September 1978 and hired John Robbins Barnaby as programmer, who wrote a [[word processor]], WordMaster, and a sorting program, SuperSort, in [[Intel 8080]] [[assembly language]]. After Rubinstein obtained a report that discussed the abilities of contemporary standalone word processors from [[IBM]], [[Xerox]], and [[Wang Laboratories]], Barnaby enhanced WordMaster with similar features and support for the [[CP/M]] operating system. MicroPro began selling the product, now renamed '''WordStar''', in June 1979.<ref name="bergin2006">{{cite journal | title=The Origins of Word Processing Software for Personal Computers: 1976-1985 | author=Bergin, Thomas J. | journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |date=Oct–Dec 2006 | volume=28 | issue=4 | pages=32–47 | doi=10.1109/MAHC.2006.76| s2cid=18895790 }}</ref> Priced at {{US$|long=no|495}} and {{US$|long=no|40}} for the manual,<ref name="wordstar198001">{{Cite magazine |date=January 1980 |title=Word-Star |url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1980-01#page/n49/mode/2up |magazine=BYTE |type=advertisement |page=49}}</ref> by early 1980, MicroPro said in advertisements that 5,000 people had purchased WordStar in eight months.<ref name="byte198509">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1985-09/1985_09_BYTE_10-09_Homebrewing#page/n181/mode/2up | title=A Microcomputing Timeline | work=BYTE | date=September 1985 | access-date=October 27, 2013 |author1=Williams, Gregg |author2=Welch, Mark |author3=Avis, Paul | pages=198}}</ref>

===Early success===
WordStar was the first microcomputer word processor to offer [[mail merge]] and textual [[WYSIWYG]]. Besides word-wrapping (still a notable feature for early microcomputer programs), this last was most noticeably implemented as on-screen pagination during the editing session.  Using the number of lines-per-page given by the user during program installation, WordStar would display a full line of dash characters onscreen showing where page breaks would occur during hardcopy printout. Many users found this very reassuring during editing, knowing beforehand where pages would end and begin, and where text would thus be interrupted across pages.

Barnaby left the company in March 1980, but due to WordStar's sophistication, the company's extensive sales and marketing efforts, and bundling deals with [[Osborne Computer Corporation|Osborne]] and other computer makers, MicroPro's sales grew from {{US$|long=no|500000}} in 1979 to {{US$|long=no|72}} million in [[fiscal year]] 1984, surpassing earlier market leader [[Electric Pencil]]. By May 1983 ''[[Byte (magazine)|BYTE]]'' magazine called WordStar "without a doubt the best-known and probably the most widely used personal computer word-processing program". The company released '''WordStar 3.3''' in June 1983; the 650,000 cumulative copies of WordStar for the [[IBM PC]] and other computers sold by that fall was more than double that of the second most-popular word processor, and that year MicroPro had 10% of the personal computer software market. By 1984, the year it held an [[initial public offering]], MicroPro was the world's largest software company with 23% of the word processor market.{{r|bergin2006}}<ref name="arredondo19840326">{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lC4EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22wordstar+3.3%22&pg=PA66 | title=Review: WordStar 3.3 | access-date=March 6, 2011 | author=Arredondo, Larry | date=March 26, 1984| magazine=InfoWorld | page=66}}</ref><ref name="shuford198305">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1983-05/1983_05_BYTE_08-05_The_Electronic_Office#page/n181/mode/2up | title=Word Tools for the IBM Personal Computer | work=BYTE | date=May 1983 | access-date=October 19, 2013 | author=Shuford, Richard S. | pages=176}}</ref>

[[File:Wordstar 4 CPM.jpg|thumb|Distribution  {{convert|5+1/4|in|adj=on}} diskettes and packaging for the last version  (Version 4) of WordStar released for 8-bit CP/M]]

A manual that ''[[PC Magazine]]'' described as "incredibly inadequate"<ref name="cowan198208">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WYnHD9WSWdAC&pg=PA150 | title=A Usable WordStar Manual is Born | work=PC Magazine | date=August 1982 | access-date=October 21, 2013 | author=Cowan, Les | pages=150}}</ref> and "a looseleaf nightmare"{{r|manes198306}} led many authors to publish replacements. One of them, ''Introduction to WordStar'', was written by future [[Goldstein & Blair]] founder and [[Whole Earth Software Catalog]] contributor Arthur Naiman, who hated the program and had a term inserted into his publishing contract that he not be required to use WordStar to write the book,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog_for_1986_1985_Point|title=Whole Earth Software Catalog|year=1989 |isbn=9780385233019 |last1=Brand |first1=Stewart |publisher=Quantum Press/Doubleday }} "In my estimation, WORDSTAR is one of the most poorly designed word-processing programs ever written— a huge, elaborate farrago of klugy patches, sort of like a Rube Goldberg machine gone berserk.... one of my requirements before signing the contract was that I wouldn't have to use WORDSTAR to write the book."</ref> using WRITE instead.<ref name="pournelle198503">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1985-03-rescan/1985_03_BYTE_10-03_Bargain_Computing#page/n325/mode/2up | title=On the Road: Hackercon and COMDEX | work=BYTE | date=March 1985 | access-date=March 19, 2016 | author=Pournelle, Jerry | pages=313}}</ref>

===MS-DOS===
[[File:WordStar.png|thumb|WordStar 3 under CP/M]]
[[File:Wordstar4.png|thumb|Screenshot of WordStar 4]]
[[File:Ws7 xp.PNG|thumb|WordStar 7 under Windows XP]]

'''WordStar 3.0''', the first version for [[MS-DOS]], appeared in April 1982.<ref name="wordstar.org">{{cite web | url=http://www.wordstar.org/index.php/wordstar-history | title=A Potted History of WordStar | publisher=WordStar Resource Site | date=April 11, 2013 | access-date=April 11, 2013 | author-last=Petrie |author-first=Michael |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220230834/http://www.wordstar.org/index.php/wordstar-history |archive-date=February 20, 2020}}</ref><ref name="vangelder198309">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mt9tF7XMFX4C&pg=PA156 | title=On The Road To Software Stardom | work=PC Magazine | date=August 1983 | access-date=October 22, 2013 | author=van Gelder, Lindsy | pages=156}}</ref> Until then, many PC owners bought [[Z-80 SoftCard|Z-80 card]]s so they could run the CP/M version.<ref name="manes198306">{{Cite magazine |last=Manes |first=Stephen |date=June 1983 |title=WordStar 3.24 and 3.3: MicroPro Does It Again ... And Again |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=14Kfbrc6cbAC&lpg=PA391&pg=PA391#v=onepage&q&f=true |access-date=2025-03-15 |magazine=PC |pages=391-409}}</ref> The DOS version was very similar to the original, and although the IBM PC has arrow keys and separate function keys, the traditional "WordStar diamond" and other Ctrl-key functions were retained,{{r|shuford198305}} leading to rapid adoption by former CP/M users. WordStar's ability to use a "non-document" mode to create text files without formatting made it popular among programmers for writing code.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scrounge.org/wordstar.htm|title=WordStar and You}}</ref> Like the CP/M versions, the DOS WordStar was not explicitly designed for IBM PCs, but rather for any x86 machine (as there were a number of non-IBM-compatible PCs that used 8086 or 80186 CPUs). As such, it uses only DOS's API calls and avoids any BIOS usage or direct hardware access. This carried with it a performance penalty as everything had to be "double" processed (meaning that the DOS API functions would handle screen or keyboard I/O first and then pass them to the BIOS).

The first DOS version of WordStar, demonstrated by Jim Fox and executed by a team of Irish programmers in April 1982, was a [[Porting|port]] of the [[CP/M-86]] version of WordStar, which in turn had been ported from the [[CP/M-80]] version in September 1981. This had been started by Diane Hajicek and was completed by an Irish team of programmers under [[Intel ISIS-II|ISIS-II]],{{r|wordstar.org}} probably using [[Intel]]'s [[source-to-source translator]] [[CONV86]]. Thus the main program executable was a .COM file which could only access 64&nbsp;kB of memory. Users quickly learned they could make WordStar run dramatically faster by installing a [[RAM disk]] board, and copying the WordStar program files into it.<ref>{{harvnb|Brand|1989}} "There is a potent remedy for the slowness of WORDSTAR and NEWWORD, which is caused by the programs constantly "going  to disk" to get one thing or another. Install a  "RAM disk" and load the program on it.  Since it is an electronic circuit board  emulating a disk, everything happens at  electronic speed, faster even than with a  hard disk."</ref> WordStar would still access the "disk" repeatedly, but the far faster access of the RAM drive compared to a floppy disk yielded a substantial speed improvement. However, edited versions of a document were "saved" only to this RAM disk, and had to be copied to physical media before rebooting.

''InfoWorld'' described WordStar as "notorious for its complexity",{{r|iw19850415}} and [[Stephen Manes]] of ''[[PC (magazine)|PC]]'' wrote that its "function keys seemed to have been assigned late one drunken Saturday night",{{r|manes198306}} but by 1983 WordStar was the leading word processing system{{r|shuford198305}}<ref name="biggest">[http://www.dvorak.org/blog/whatever-happened-to-wordstar-2 John C. Dvorak].</ref> ("the disks moved off the shelves faster than Charlie Chaplin’s pies", Manes said{{r|manes198306}}). Although competition appeared early (the first version of [[WordPerfect]] debuted in 1982 and [[Microsoft Word]] in 1983), WordStar was the dominant word processor on x86 machines until 1985. It was part of the software bundle that accompanied [[Kaypro]] computers.

At that time, the evolution from CP/M to MS-DOS, with an "Alt" key, had taken place. WordStar had until then never successfully exploited the MS-DOS keyboard, and that is one explanation for its demise.

By that point, MicroPro had dropped the generic MS-DOS support and '''WordStar 4.0''' was exclusively for IBM compatibles, which differed from MS-DOS-compatible programs in terms of screen addressing. It was the first version of WordStar supporting directories&mdash;a feature nearly mandatory to be usable on machines with hard disks. Also introduced were simple macros (shorthand) and the install program was completely updated to include features like reprogramming function keys and an extensive printer support. During the second half of the 1980s, the fully modernized WordPerfect overtook it in sales.<ref>Will WordPerfect for Windows steal the crown? Computer Shopper, February 1, 1992, Daniel J. Rosenbaum [https://web.archive.org/web/20121026113935/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-11726240.html Copy]</ref>

'''WordStar 5''' (released in 1989) added footnote and endnote capability and a fairly advanced Page preview function. Versions '''5.5''' and '''6''' had added features, and version '''7''' (released 1991) included a complete macro language as well as support for over 500 printers. It also featured style sheets and mouse support.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wordstar.org/index.php/wordstar-history|title=WordStar History|first=Michael|last=Petrie|website=www.wordstar.org}}</ref>

===Problems with piracy===

WordStar was not copy-protected up to and including version 3.3.{{r|manes198306}} Columnist [[John Dvorak]] recalled: "WordStar may have been the most pirated software in the world, which in many ways accounted for its success. (Software companies don’t like to admit to this as a possibility.) Books for WordStar sold like hot cakes and the authors knew they were selling documentation for pirated copies of WordStar. The company itself should have just sold the documentation alone to increase sales. This was the wink-wink-nudge-nudge aspect of the industry at the time and everyone knew it. So when WordStar 2000 arrived with a copy protection scheme, everyone should have predicted its immediate demise."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dvorak |first1=John C. |title=Whatever Happened to WordStar? |url=http://www.dvorak.org/blog/whatever-happened-to-wordstar-2/ |website=Dvorak Uncensored |publisher=John C. Dvorak |access-date=July 9, 2020}}</ref>

Besides the ready availability of third-party books explaining WordStar in detail,{{r|cowan198208}} the program's extensive and configurable onscreen help facility (help text appeared in a resizable window at the top of the screen) made it easy to use an illegal copy.

===WordStar 2000===
At the time, the [[IBM Displaywriter System]] dominated the [[dedicated word processor]] market. IBM's main competition was [[Wang Laboratories]]. Such machines were expensive and were generally accessed through terminals connected to central mainframe or midrange computers.

When IBM announced it was bringing [[DisplayWrite]] to the PC, MicroPro focused on creating a clone of it which they marketed, in 1984, as '''WordStar 2000'''. WordStar 2000 supported features such as disk directories, but lacked compatibility with the file formats of existing WordStar versions and also made numerous unpopular changes to the interface. Gradually competitors such as [[WordPerfect]] reduced MicroPro's market share. [[MultiMate]], in particular, used the same key sequences as Wang word processors, which made it popular with secretaries switching from those to PCs.

''[[BYTE]]'' stated that WordStar 2000 had "all the charm of an elephant on motorized skates", warning in 1986 that an [[IBM PC AT]] with hard drive was highly advisable to run the software, which it described as "clumsy, overdesigned, and uninviting ... I can't come up with a reason why I'd want to use it". WordStar 2000 had a user interface that was substantially different from the original WordStar,<ref name="shapiro198606">{{cite news|author=Shapiro, Ezra|date=June 1986|title=Upgrade Fever|pages=329|work=BYTE|url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1986-06/page/n341/mode/2up?view=theater}}</ref> and the company did little to advertise this. However, its lasting legacy on the word processing industry was the introduction of three keyboard shortcuts that are still widely used, namely, Ctrl+B for '''boldfacing''', Ctrl+I for ''italicizing'', and Ctrl+U for <u>underlining</u> text.

===NewStar===
WordStar became popular in large companies without MicroPro. The company, which did not have a corporate sales program until December 1983,<ref name="iw19850415">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zC4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20 | title=Micropro Fights for Office Market | work=InfoWorld | date=April 15, 1985 | access-date=February 4, 2015 | pages=20–21}}</ref> developed an arrogant reputation among customers. After [[PC DOS]] 1.1 was incompatible with WordStar 3.02 MicroPro did not update its software for months, then did not notify customers who had mailed in registration cards of its existence or later updates. 3.3, released in 1983, had many improvements and much better documentation but still did not use more than 64K RAM at once.{{r|manes198306}} ''[[PC Magazine]]'' wrote that year that the company's "motto often seems to be: 'Ask Your Dealer'",<ref name="vangelder198309"/> and in 1985 that<ref name="stinson19850205">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BGNWNTJnuRcC&pg=PA33 | title=WordStar 2000: MicroPro Odyssey | work=PC Magazine | date=February 5, 1985 | access-date=October 28, 2013 | author=Stinson, Craig | pages=33}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Almost since its birth 4 years ago, MicroPro has had a seemingly unshakable reputation for three things: arrogant indifference to user feedback ("MicroPro's classic response to questions about ''WordStar'' was, "Call your dealer"); possession of one of the more difficult-to-use word processors on the market; and possession of the most powerful word processor available.}}

By late 1984, the company admitted, according to the magazine, that WordStar's reputation for power was fading,{{r|stinson19850205}} and by early 1985, its sales had decreased for four quarters while those of Multimate and [[Samna]] increased.{{r|iw19850415}} Several MicroPro employees meanwhile formed rival company NewStar. In September 1983, it published WordStar clone NewWord, which offered several features the original lacked, such as a built-in [[spell checker]] and support for [[laser printer]]s. Advertisements stated that "Anyone with WordStar experience won't even have to read NewWord's manuals. WordStar text files work with NewWord". Despite competition from NewStar, Microsoft Word, [[WordPerfect]], and dozens of other companies, which typically released new versions of their software every 12 to 18 months, MicroPro did not release new versions of WordStar beyond 3.3 during 1984 and 1985, in part because Rubinstein relinquished control of the company after a January 1984 heart attack. His replacements canceled the promising [[office suite]] Starburst, purchased a WordStar clone, and used it as the basis of WordStar 2000, released in December 1984. It received poor reviews—by April 1985 ''PC Magazine'' referred to WordStar 2000 as "beleaguered"—due to not being compatible with WordStar files and other disadvantages, and by selling at the same {{US$|long=no|495}} price as WordStar 3.3 confused customers. Company employees were divided between WordStar and WordStar 2000 factions, and fiscal year 1985 sales declined to {{US$|long=no|40}} million.{{r|bergin2006}}<ref name="caruso19841119">{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pS4EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22wordstar+2000%22&pg=PA15 | title=NEW WORDSTAR ON THE WAY | access-date=March 6, 2011 | author=Caruso, Denise | date=November 19, 1984 | magazine=InfoWorld | page=15}}</ref><ref name="wortman1985010714">{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-i4EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22wordstar+2000%22&pg=PA47 | title=Wordstar 2000 | access-date=March 6, 2011 | author=Wortman, Leon A. | date=January 7, 1985 | magazine=InfoWorld | page=47}}</ref><ref name="angel19860519">{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SS8EAAAAMBAJ&q=newstar+new+word+wordstar&pg=PA57 | title=NewWord 3 Is Now More Than Clone Of WordStar | access-date=March 6, 2011 | author=Angel, Jonathan | date=May 19, 1986 | magazine=InfoWorld | page=57}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/PROFILES_Volume_1_Number_5_1984-03_Kaypro_Corp_US#page/n55/mode/2up | title=Your troubles are over / There's a NewWord for efficiency (advertisement) | work=PROFILES | date=March 1984 | access-date=October 16, 2013 | pages=57–58}}</ref><ref name="machrone19850402">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w1aA2lOwdNIC&pg=PA34 | title=MicroPro Revamps WordStar 2000 | work=PC Magazine | date=April 2, 1985 | access-date=October 28, 2013 | author=Machrone, Bill | pages=34}}</ref>{{r|wordstar.org}}

[[Jerry Pournelle]] wrote in September 1984 that NewWord was file and command compatible with WordStar 3.3, with comparable speed, more features, and better built-in help. He quoted another user as describing it as "WordStar without glitches".<ref name="pournelle198409">{{Cite magazine |last=Pournelle |first=Jerry |date=September 1984 |title=On the Road |url=https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_09-10_1984-09_Computer_Graphics/page/n364/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2025-04-09 |magazine=BYTE |pages=363-382}}</ref> By that year, NewWord had released a second version, and many WordStar users switched to it. A third version appeared in 1986;{{r|wordstar.org}} ''The New York Times'' wrote that NewWord 3 "provides the perfect excuse for WordStar users to switch software, as if WordStar users needed an excuse".<ref name="lewis19860107">{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Peter H. |date=January 7, 1986 |title=PERIPHERALS; PATH IN JUNGLE OF SOFTWARE FOR WRITING |language=en-US |pages=C7 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/07/science/peripherals-path-in-jungle-of-software-for-writing.html |access-date=May 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A 1990 [[American Institute of Certified Public Accountants]] member survey found that 13% used WordStar. While second only to WordPerfect (46%) and ahead of Word (8%) among word processors, 10% of users said they would not recommend WordStar, compared to 1% for WordPerfect and 2% for Word.<ref name="aicpa1990">{{Cite report |url=https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1563&context=aicpa_guides |title=1990 AICPA survey of computer usage |author-link=American Institute of Certified Public Accountants |year=1990 |id=561 |access-date=2025-04-30}}</ref>

In February 1985 MicroPro promised updates to WordStar 3.3,{{r|machrone19850402}} but none appeared until new management purchased NewWord and used it as the basis of WordStar 4.0 in 1987, four years after the previous version. Word (four versions from 1983 to 1987) and WordPerfect (five versions), however, had become the market leaders. More conflict between MicroPro's two factions delayed WordStar 5.0 until late 1988, again hurting the program's sales. After renaming itself after its flagship product in 1989, WordStar International merged with [[SoftKey]] in 1993.{{r|bergin2006}}<ref name="willett19930524">{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTsEAAAAMBAJ&q=softkey%20worstar&pg=PA31 | title=Merger is first step to a consumer orientation for WordStar | access-date=March 6, 2011 | author=Willett, Shawn | date=May 24, 1993 | magazine=InfoWorld | page=31}}</ref><ref name="ieeetimeline">{{cite web | url=http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingnow/annals/extras/wordvol28n4 | title=Word Processing Timeline | access-date=March 6, 2011 | author=Bergin, Thomas J. | date=Oct–Dec 2006 | publisher=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing | archive-date=October 11, 2012  | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011130022/http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingnow/annals/extras/wordvol28n4 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Dvorak |first1=John C. |title=Whatever Happened to NewWord? "Dvorak News Blog |url=https://www.dvorak.org/blog/whatever-happened-to-newword/ |access-date=April 28, 2024}}</ref>

===WordStar for Windows===
Like many other producers of successful DOS applications, WordStar International delayed before deciding to make a version for the commercially successful [[Microsoft Windows|Windows 3.0]].<ref>Beleaguered WordStar poised to rebound if management can spark user demand, Software Industry Report, November 4, 1991 [https://web.archive.org/web/20121026113940/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-11525539.html Copy]</ref> The company purchased Legacy, an existing Windows-based word processor, which was altered and released as '''WordStar for Windows''' in 1991. It was a well-reviewed product and included many features normally only found in more expensive [[desktop publishing]] packages.<ref>WordStar for Windows is a good deal, Computer Shopper, January 1, 1992, Steve Gilliland  [https://web.archive.org/web/20121026113948/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-11669124.html Copy]</ref> However, its delayed launch meant that [[Microsoft Word]] had already firmly established itself as the corporate standard during the two previous years.<ref>Is the boom (almost) over? (indications that the market for Windows-based applications is slowing down), Soft-Letter, October 20, 1992 [https://web.archive.org/web/20121026113957/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-12812715.html Copy]</ref>

===Abandonment===
WordStar is [[abandonware]]. It was last updated in December 1992.

===Notable users===
WordStar was the program of choice for conservative intellectual [[William F. Buckley, Jr.]], who used the software to write many works, including his last book.  His son [[Christopher Buckley (novelist)|Christopher Buckley]] wrote of his father's loyalty to WordStar, despite the increasing difficulty of installing it on newer computers. The elder Buckley said of WordStar, "I'm told there are better programs, but I'm also told there are better alphabets".<ref name=feigenson764>{{cite web|url=http://feigenson.us/blog/?p=764|title=William F Buckley and WordStar|first1=Walter |last1=Feigenson |date=April 23, 2009|website=Wally's Follies|access-date=July 20, 2017}}</ref>

[[Ralph Ellison]] also used WordStar.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://medium.com/@mkirschenbaum/software-its-a-thing-a550448d0ed3 |first1=Matthew |last1=Kirschenbaum |date=July 25, 2014 |title=Software, It's a Thing |website=[[Medium (service)|Medium]] |access-date=July 20, 2017}}</ref>

[[Robert J. Sawyer]], a Canadian science-fiction writer, continues to use WordStar 7.0 for DOS (the final release, last updated in 1992) to write his novels, All twenty-five of his novels were written with WordStar.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sfwriter.com/wordstar.htm |title=WordStar: A Writer's Word Processor |website=Robert J. Sawyer |first1=Robert J. |last1=Sawyer |author-link1=Robert J. Sawyer |access-date=January 19, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sfwriter.com/2009/06/rjs-on-wordstar-cited-in-paper-about.html |title=RJS on WordStar cited in paper about accessibility for the blind |first1=Robert J. |last1=Sawyer |author-link1=Robert J. Sawyer |website=sfwriter.com |date=June 23, 2009 |access-date=July 20, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Complete WordStar 7.0 Archive">{{cite web |url=https://sfwriter.com/ws7.htm |title=Complete WordStar 7.0 Archive |website=sfwriter.com |first1=Robert J. |last1=Sawyer |author-link1=Robert J. Sawyer |date=August 12, 2024 |access-date=August 17, 2024}}</ref> As the app is now "abandonware", and there was no proper archive of WordStar 7.0 for DOS available online, he decided to create one. He put together as complete a version of WordStar 7 as might exist. He bundled together over 1,000 pages of scanned manuals that came with WordStar, related utilities, his own README guidance, ready-to-run versions of DOSBox-X and VDosPlus, and WordStar 7 Rev. D and posted them on his website as the "Complete WordStar 7.0 Archive".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/06/wordstar_7_the_last_ever/ |title=WordStar 7, the last ever DOS version, re-released for free |website=theregister.com |first1=Liam |last1=Proven |author-link1=Liam Proven |date=August 6, 2024 |access-date=August 17, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/08/wordstar-7-for-dos-gets-a-free-re-release-from-one-of-its-biggest-author-fans/ |title=Sci-fi writer and WordStar lover re-releases the cult DOS app for free |website=arstechnica.com |first1=Kevin |last1=Purdy |author-link1=Kevin Purdy |date=August 7, 2024 |access-date=August 17, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://sfwriter.com/blog/?p=5806 |title=WordStar for DOS 7.0 Archive |website=sfwriter.com |first1=Robert J. |last1=Sawyer |author-link1=Robert J. Sawyer |date=July 30, 2024 |access-date=August 17, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://sfwriter.com/blog/?p=5811 |title=WordStar for DOS 7.0 archive updated |website=sfwriter.com |first1=Robert J. 
|last1=Sawyer |author-link1=Robert J. Sawyer |date=August 12, 2024 
|access-date=August 17, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Complete WordStar 7.0 Archive"/>

{{As of|2020}}, fantasy author [[George R. R. Martin]] used the MS-DOS version of WordStar 4.0.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://grrm.livejournal.com/197075.html |title=The Social Media |first1=George R.R. |last1=Martin |author-link1=George R. R. Martin |date=February 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130803064942/http://grrm.livejournal.com/197075.html |archive-date=August 3, 2013  |url-status=bot: unknown |access-date=July 20, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2020/04/14/this-that-and-tother-thing-3 | first1=George R.R. |last1=Martin |author-link1=George R. R. Martin |date=April 14, 2020 | title=This, That, and T'Other Thing}}</ref>

[[Andy Breckman]], the creator of ''[[Monk (TV series)|Monk]]'', is a devoted WordStar user.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://njmonthly.com/articles/jersey-living/funny-business-2/ |title=Madison resident Andy Breckman writes for the TV show Monk |website=New Jersey Monthly |first1=Joel |last1=Keller |date=December 19, 2007 |access-date=July 20, 2017}}</ref>

Novelist [[Anne Rice]] was another faithful user of WordStar who struggled to have it installed on newer computers until it could no longer reasonably be done. She then grudgingly transitioned to Microsoft Word, whose design she felt was comparatively unintuitive and illogical. Rice noted "WordStar was magnificent. I loved it. It was logical, beautiful, perfect," adding, "Compared to it, MS Word which I use today is pure madness."<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/annericefanpage/posts/10153641831860452?comment_id=10153642581890452&reply_comment_id=10153642662365452&total_comments=3&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D Comment], August 28, 2015, Anne Rice, Facebook</ref>