WordPerfect

WordPerfect is a word processing program that, at the height of its popularity in the early 1990s, defined the way such programs worked, but has since been eclipsed by Microsoft Word.

Originally produced by the WordPerfect Corporation, it was sold, first to Novell and then to Corel. Soon it was bundled with Quattro Pro and other programs into an office applications suite first called Perfect Office, then WordPerfect Office. During the Novell period, WordPerfect was late in coming to market with a Windows version, and the program suffered a decline in popularity from which it has never recovered. Only law firms and a few universities remain avid users. Nor was the attempt, in the Corel era, to promote it as the standard word processor on Linux systems to prove successful.

WordPerfect aficionados remain convinced of the superiority of their word processor of choice, pointing out the way in which the "Reveal Codes" function, which allows the user to see all the formatting instructions in the text, gives the power user very precise control over the text. (and makes it easy to find and eliminate, for example, the reason why a paragraph has suddenly turned into an italic bold typeface). Market forces and monopolistic practices by competitors have not rewarded such superiority.