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What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
#284998 - 05/05/12 05:21 AM
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What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"? Since Windows 95, it has always been included in all Windows versions. But why? What is the point? Notepad is the application that is used by Windows for everything such as text editor, configuration settings, etc. And Microsoft Works or Microsoft Word (or some other word processor program) comes preloaded on nearly every computer... so people use that for their word processing. So why even have WordPad?
I feel bad for WordPad... it get's no action. That's why I try to use and incorporate WordPad into my computer usage.
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: OldSchoolGamer]
#285002 - 05/05/12 05:56 AM
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Because Works and Word don't come on nearly every PC. OEM PC's from Dell etc. often do, but plain Windows does not.
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: Reznor007]
#285003 - 05/05/12 06:05 AM
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And it costs in the hundreds of $$$ to have word / office.
My HP has it pre installed, but I'd still have to buy it.
Thanks but no thanks.
My mom's PC doesn't have it either, but I can't remember who made that PC.
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: Reznor007]
#285005 - 05/05/12 06:08 AM
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> Because Works and Word don't come on nearly every PC. OEM
> PC's from Dell etc. often do, but plain Windows does not.
A better question is; who the hell decided to nerf SoundRecorder.exe?
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| DMala |
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: greybeard]
#285006 - 05/05/12 06:31 AM
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> And it costs in the hundreds of $$$ to have word / office.
I can't imagine Microsoft will be able to do this much longer. Between Google Docs and free-as-in-beer packages like OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice, there is literally no reason for the average person to pay for MS Office.
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| Bekki Doll |
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A cynical yet secular shiny retrogamer, thread ressurector and fan of the word "gay".
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: DMala]
#285008 - 05/05/12 06:56 AM
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Quote:
I can't imagine Microsoft will be able to do this much longer. Between Google Docs and free-as-in-beer packages like OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice, there is literally no reason for the average person to pay for MS Office.
I agree. I've been using OpenOffice.org and then LibreOffice since Fall 2004 and never looked back. I've been turning those looking for a decent office suite onto those since then. Besides, MS-Office 2007's interfaces changes were just pure unwiped and unwashed stinky ass. And that's just putting it mildly (my employer "downgraded" to that version).
And yes, the selling point is both the price as well as the freedom. It may not get play upon the retail shelves for obvious reasons. But it's cool to be a part of the knowledgeable underground to make and give copies of LibreOffice away and save that person $250 or more for a less-than-functional office suite.
As for WordPad I never really used that. It was originally designed to be the replacement for Write and to steer people away from .WRI files and towards .RTF. I mainly use Notepad for jotting down quick notes or rough drafts. Maybe even to edit .BAT files or other forms of code when I don't feel like loading up another interface.
Then again, I'm still a HUGE fan of Norton Editor and MS-Works for DOS 3.0. I can't overlook the classics. ;-)
--Bekki
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Combating functional illiteracy with latex-clad drama since the '80s, because old video games rule!
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: Reznor007]
#285013 - 05/05/12 07:19 AM
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also, notepad doesn't handle large files very well. I've had several occasions where I was pretty much forced to use Wordpad to get something done because notepad couldn't handle it. Although that was many years ago. I've completely replaced stock notepad usage with the free Notepad++.
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Just broke my personal record for number of consecutive days without dying!
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: OldSchoolGamer]
#285025 - 05/05/12 12:16 PM
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It can read text files with *NIX or Mac line endings, which Notepad doesn't deal too well with.
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: aavada]
#285049 - 05/05/12 06:52 PM
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I totally agree with that. I mean it was no frills, but it got the job done when ytou just needed some cheapo, quick sound byte editing.
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cyberdman
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| Bekki Doll |
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A cynical yet secular shiny retrogamer, thread ressurector and fan of the word "gay".
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: URherenow]
#285054 - 05/05/12 07:16 PM
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Quote:
also, notepad doesn't handle large files very well. I've had several occasions where I was pretty much forced to use Wordpad to get something done because notepad couldn't handle it. Although that was many years ago. I've completely replaced stock notepad usage with the free Notepad++.
The irony: Notepad runs within an environment designed to handle much more memory than 640KB. And the current version that comes with XP chokes on large text files (it can load and edit them but tends to shuffle memory around, especially on search'n'replace operations when I need to standardize data from the web into a more machine-friendly format for automated analysis). So they fixed the 32KB limitation when XP came out but not very well.
The 1986 code of Norton Editor can load and edit files larger that 640KB! And it is amazingly fast due to its tight assembly coding. It was an editor primarily designed for programmers and a simple fact is that source code can grow beyond a meager 32KB or even past 640KB. Needless to say, when comparing the efficiency of search'n'replace between this and Notepad, Norton Editor leaves Notepad in the dust.
Sure, I could use other text editors. But Norton Editor has withstood the test of time. It's just one piece of lean & mean piece of classic code written back when every KB mattered. It may not handle long filenames, but so what? 8+3 is what I grew up with. Once past that "limitation" it still remains within my utility toolbox.
--Bekki
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Combating functional illiteracy with latex-clad drama since the '80s, because old video games rule!
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As far as "old" word processors go...
[Re: Bekki Doll]
#285067 - 05/05/12 08:37 PM
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I loved Word Perfect 5.1 DOS and Word Perfect 8 for Windows.
I took a college class on Desktop Publishing using Word Perfect 6.1 IIRC, although Word Perfect 7 seemed to be a POS, and I took an advanced Word Processing course (1 credit) also at the same time.
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: OldSchoolGamer]
#285081 - 05/06/12 12:14 AM
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Don't use either for numbers of reasons. I have gotten used to notepad++.
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| Moose |
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Don't make me assume my ultimate form!
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: Bekki Doll]
#285084 - 05/06/12 12:37 AM
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>Besides, MS-Office 2007's interfaces changes were just pure unwiped
> and unwashed stinky ass.
LOL, yes, the new ribbon does take quite a while to get used to. For ~5 years, I've had the old menus installed side by side with the ribbon, and I use either depending on what I want to do. Some things - but only some - are easier / better with the ribbon, but for most, the menus are still the best. I hate hunting the ribbon for the 5th time thinking "where the @#$% did MS put this ....".
> person $250 or more for a less-than-functional office suite.
MS want to move Office to the cloud and charge people a subscription. Can't see that being too popular ...
The only things I don't like about OpenOffice is that it has (or had last I checked) problems with "large" spreadsheet files (takes dozens of times longer to load / save than Excel), and the database was pretty flaky.
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Moose
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: Bekki Doll]
#285108 - 05/06/12 03:08 AM
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Maybe because of what you said, Notepad won't continuously scroll through a document (that alone disqualifies it for me). It jumps, whereas WordPad scrolls smoothly.
Wordpad is a full-featured, basic editor, so you can use it for any letter/message writing, add in any font, use any color (although custom colors won't get added to the stock list). I also use it when I'm writing batch files or the like.
All my text files are opened by WordPad. (Of course, I never use spell/grammar checkers, etc.)
I remember checking out Notepad++ a couple/few years ago when someone (I think here) mentioned it. I don't remember what happened.
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Consider it high comedy....sincere tragedy....whatever...don't take it personally.
The Culture
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| Bekki Doll |
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A cynical yet secular shiny retrogamer, thread ressurector and fan of the word "gay".
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: mogli]
#285111 - 05/06/12 03:31 AM
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Quote:
Wordpad is a full-featured, basic editor, so you can use it for any letter/message writing, add in any font, use any color (although custom colors won't get added to the stock list). I also use it when I'm writing batch files or the like.
I'm oldskool: If I work with plaintext I use a very fast, mean & lean plaintext editor. If I need to get elaborate I whip out the big gun in the form of LibreOffice. ;-)
What's interesting is how much faster LibreOffice is when compared to OpenOffice.org. The story is that the Sun/Oracle bureaucracy kept a lot of good fixes from being applied to the main core. That's why there was a fork known as "Go-OO".
When Oracle discontinued OpenSolaris the OpenOffice.org community was concerned about the same fate awaiting them. The core of that community forked and LibreOffice was born. LibreOffice then applied the many fixes that were in the "Go-OO" codebase and it simply got much better without Oracle getting in the way of progress.
Sure, I could use WordPad. But I've become so used to using LibreOffice that it's second nature for me to pop that open first. Anything that's related to word processing gets loaded by it and that's fine by me. And that can range from composing correspondence all the way up to full book and newsletter layouts. Plus I have tools to publish from LibreOffice to ePub, Mobi and other formats.
Imagine that! A completely free electronic publishing solution! Nook and Kindle users who are curious on how to self-publish should check that out. ;-)
Besides, sometimes I need to doodle with vector graphics via the Draw module. Okay. I doodle A LOT with vector graphics via Draw. ;-)
--Bekki
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Combating functional illiteracy with latex-clad drama since the '80s, because old video games rule!
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: Bekki Doll]
#285113 - 05/06/12 03:50 AM
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> Sure, I could use WordPad. But I've become so used to using LibreOffice that it's
> second nature for me to pop that open first. Anything that's related to word
> processing gets loaded by it and that's fine by me. And that can range from composing
> correspondence all the way up to full book and newsletter layouts. Plus I have tools
> to publish from LibreOffice to ePub, Mobi and other formats.
>
> Imagine that! A completely free electronic publishing solution! Nook and Kindle users
> who are curious on how to self-publish should check that out. ;-)
>
> Besides, sometimes I need to doodle with vector graphics via the Draw module. Okay. I
> doodle A LOT with vector graphics via Draw. ;-)
>
> --Bekki
Groovy stuff that's way beyond my yen.
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| Bekki Doll |
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A cynical yet secular shiny retrogamer, thread ressurector and fan of the word "gay".
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: mogli]
#285122 - 05/06/12 04:59 AM
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Quote:
Groovy stuff that's way beyond my yen.
Uh huh. That's the whole point: Save yer yen and spend it on more important things. Like food! ;-)
--Bekki
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: Bekki Doll]
#285154 - 05/06/12 01:41 PM
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> Groovy stuff that's way beyond my yen.
>
> Uh huh. That's the whole point: Save yer yen and spend it on more important things.
> Like food! ;-)
>
> --Bekki
Yen: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my desires."
Ken: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my understanding."
I'll go with that one, as from there it goes south.
Ben: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my back room."
Den: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my secluded room."
Fen: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my marsh."
Hen: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my chicken."
Jen: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my love."
Men: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my employees."
Pen: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my writing ability."
Ren: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my kidney."
Wen: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my city."
...and a few others that make even less sense.
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| Bekki Doll |
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A cynical yet secular shiny retrogamer, thread ressurector and fan of the word "gay".
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: TriggerFin]
#285165 - 05/06/12 03:30 PM
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Quote:
Yen: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my desires."
Ken: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my understanding."
I see now! That's the first time I've heard those expressions. Thanks for the clarification and the enlightenment. :-)
Quote:
Ren: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my kidney."
I can see why that is, especially if it makes ya pee straight. ;-)
--Bekki
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Re: What is the point of Windows having the word processor program called "WordPad"?
[Re: Bekki Doll]
#285221 - 05/07/12 12:09 AM
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> Yen: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my desires."
> Ken: "Groovy stuff that's way beyond my understanding."
>
> I see now! That's the first time I've heard those expressions. Thanks for the
> clarification and the enlightenment. :-)
Pshaw. I had both in mind, thought about them, and decided on yen, because I figured the Scottish vernacular would probably be lost on those here. (Of course, it's conceivable my exposure to the Sten novels has given me an obscure sense of the word 'ken'.)
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