AbiWord facts for kids
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AbiWord running on Debian 11
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| Developer(s) | AbiSource |
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| Initial release | December 1, 1998 |
| Stable release |
3.0.5
 / 3 July 2021 |
| Preview release |
Lua error in Module:Wd at line 1575: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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| Written in | C++ |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Type | Word processor |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later |
AbiWord (/ˈæbiwɜːrd/) is a free computer program that helps you write and edit text, like a digital notebook. It's called a word processor. It was first released in 1998.
The name "AbiWord" comes from the Spanish word "abierto", which means "open". This name fits because AbiWord is an open-source program, meaning its code is available for anyone to use and improve.
AbiWord was originally started by a company called SourceGear. Later, open-source developers took over the project. It works on many different computer systems, like Linux, ReactOS, and even some older ones like AmigaOS 4.0. It also runs on mobile devices like the Nokia N9 and Nokia N810.
There used to be a version for Microsoft Windows, but its development has stopped for now. The version for macOS hasn't been updated since 2005, but it can still run on newer macOS computers using a special tool called XQuartz.
AbiWord is part of a bigger project called AbiSource, which creates other programs for office work.
Contents
What Can AbiWord Do?
AbiWord has many useful features for writing and editing documents. It's designed to be easy to use, especially if you've used other word processors before.
Basic Writing Tools
AbiWord includes all the common tools you'd expect in a word processor:
- You can make lists.
- You can indent paragraphs.
- You can change how your text looks, like making it bold or italic.
- It also has more advanced features like tables, different text styles, and page numbers at the top or bottom of pages.
- You can add footnotes for extra information.
- It lets you use templates to quickly start new documents.
- You can view your document in different ways and use multiple columns on a page.
Checking Your Work
AbiWord helps you make sure your writing is correct:
- It has a spell checker to find and fix typos.
- It also has a grammar checker to help with your sentences, especially for US English. This was one of the first open-source word processors to have a grammar checker!
Presentation View
A cool feature of AbiWord is its "Presentation view". This lets you easily show your documents on a big screen, almost like a slideshow. This is something you don't always find in other word processors.
How It Looks and Feels
When AbiWord was first made, it was designed to look and work a lot like older versions of Microsoft Word (before Office 2007). This made it easy for people to switch to AbiWord. While it still has many similar parts, the main goal now is to make sure it looks and works well on whatever computer system you are using.
Working Together on Documents
AbiWord lets people work on the same document at the same time, just like Google Docs. This is called GOCollab.
- You can collaborate with others using different internet methods, like TCP or XMPP.
- In the past, there was a special website called AbiCollab.net that helped people work together, but that service is no longer available.
Different File Types
AbiWord can open and save documents in many different formats. This means you can easily share your work with people who use other programs.
- It supports common formats like HTML (for web pages), Microsoft Word files (.doc and .docx), OpenDocument Text (.odt), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and simple text documents (.txt).
- You can also export documents to LaTeX, which is used for scientific and technical writing.
- There are extra tools you can add to AbiWord to work with even more file types, like WordPerfect documents.
- AbiWord's own file type, called .abw, uses XML. This helps make sure your documents can be opened and used by different programs in the future, so you're not stuck with just one software.
See also
In Spanish: AbiWord para niños
