Word processors make it much simpler to edit documents, making it much easier to 'polish' prose through extended editing.ĭocuments can also be saved in multiple iterations, so that different drafts or versions of the same document can be saved on disk and accessed as needed. The facility to edit documents using word processors is also much more powerful than in the days of typed or handwritten manuscripts.

The tedious re-typing of the typewriter era is unnecessary with modern word processors. It also means that text that has several different applications only needs to be typed once and then copied. The facility to copy text is very powerful - it means that large documents can be prepared quickly using existing material, and then edited as appropriate. Any text in a document can be moved around and edited at will.

Any text on the clipboard can be copied or 'pasted' at any desired point in a document. Text that is copied is stored on the clipboard but not removed from the active document. Text that is 'cut' is deleted from the active document, but stored on the electronic clipboard. Word processors generally use a 'clipboard' where text and images can be stored temporarily. Text can be typed, moved, cut, copied, pasted and deleted. Unlike typewriters, word processing software makes documents infinitely editable. However, modern computer technology makes word processing software much more powerful and flexible than the manual typewriter.

In its simplest application, word processing software replaces the typewriter as a means of typing letters, reports and other written material. Word processing software has many applications in the electoral field. Word processing software is probably the most widely used business application in modern computing.