Word was the first popular word processor for the IBM-PC that used a graphic display mode to show typeface markups such as bold and italics directly on the screen. Previous word processors such as WordStar used simple text-only display with markup codes on the screen or sometimes, at the most, alternate colors.
People should always exercise caution before they open a Microsoft Word document? as they can contain computer viruses. Because of this users should have [anti-virus software]? installed to avoid being infected by such a virus or acting as a source of infection. The first virus known to affect Microsoft Word documents was called the Comcept virus, and it first appeared on a CD that was published by Microsoft.