The Word gains new ground

"In the beginning was the Word ..." — John 1:1

But some of us rebelled against The Word — not the Word of God Incarnate but the Word of Microsoft, the ubiquitous word processing program that, like it or not, has become a nearly universal standard for written communications in this Digital Age. When I bought a new computer eight or nine years ago, I opted to save the $100 or so the vendor would have charged for a special, discounted copy of Microsoft Word. I could get along without it. The computer came with a built-in and quite usable word processing program that was even able to open Word files — most of the time. When we bought a new, more powerful computer about four years ago, I made the same decision again: We could live without the Word.

This week I caved in and bought the home version of Microsoft Office, which includes Word, along with the Excel spreadsheet program and PowerPoint's (also ubiquitous if you go to any classroom or meeting) presentation software. I managed to catch it on sale this week and couldn't resist the possibility of saving a little money and saving some headaches. I've occasionally received e-mail attachments that wouldn't open in my word processor or that had tabular material that wouldn't tabulate in the translated version. I also realized that if I were to find any work as a freelance editor, I would almost certainly need a reliable version of Word.

Although I'm a little reluctant to admit it, I'm pleased with my purchase. No longer will I be unable to open Word attachments. No longer will I have to borrow my wife's laptop to fill out online application forms that come — you guessed it — in Word. It's the national, if not worldwide standard, and it really is impossible to resist. A few court systems, I understand, are holding out with Word Perfect, but the rest of the world is a Word world.

That hegemony is part of what made me resist buying Word. I used to kid people that every time they used Word or Internet Explorer, they were giving Microsoft founder Bill Gates another nickel — as if he needed it! I have a tendency to pull for the Little Guy, and Microsoft hasn't been the Little Guy since about 1981. Just under 90 percent of U.S. computers run on Microsoft Windows, which many experts will tell you is a power-hungry and "clunky" operating system. Microsoft's dominance is evident in the fact that even though its new Vista OS was panned by reviewers and caused all kinds of problems for users, millions of people eagerly switched to Vista because it was the latest thing from Microsoft. Some users then wanted to uninstall Vista and go back to Windows XP. (The new Windows 7, which will replace Vista in the fall, is said to be a vast improvement.)

At any rate, my resistance movement is over. I'm on board with Microsoft Office. I'll be able to read other folks' attachments and send them my attachments without converting my writing to a PDF. I'll now be computing on a level field with the rest of the world, and I'm sure Bill Gates will be happy to get the news. But I still like my Apple Macintosh computers. I can't abandon the Little Guy altogether.