Today, Microsoft Word, a legendary and one of the most recognizable text editors, turns 40. To commemorate this milestone, Microsoft published an article detailing what is coming next for Word.

In the 1980s, Microsoft introduced Word for several platforms, including XENIX, DOS, Mac, Atari, OS/2 and eventually Windows. See Microsoft Office, DOC file and Office Open XML.

As Microsoft Word turns 40, we look at the role the software has played in four decades of language and communication evolution. For 40 years there’s been an invisible hand guiding the way many ...