While working for Microsoft, Charles Simonyi and Richard Brodie developed the first version of Microsoft Word. The two developers chipped away at Xerox Bravo, the principal WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) word processor. Word 1.0 launched in October 1983 with versions for Xenix and MS-DOS. The first Windows adaptation launched in 1989, with an enhanced interface. The completion of Windows 3.0 in 1990 turned Word into an enormous business achievement. As of late, Microsoft’s major improvements to this old software have gone unnoticed. Microsoft has added some excellent features to help improve your writing and productivity using Microsoft Word.

I have purposefully ignored some of Microsoft Words best features. Microsoft has enhanced document sharing, reviewing, and co-authoring in the most recent versions. My intention is to shed some insight on how Microsoft Word can improve your writing and productivity. Sharing, editing, and workflows are out of this articles scope.

1. Text to Speech with Dictate

You type all day long to get things done. Responding to email, writing documents, and creating presentations to communicate your ideas. Sometimes, this gets tiring. Your fingers get sore, your wrists hurt. Do you ever wish you could just talk to your computer and have it write for you? Research shows you can speak much faster than you can type. What if you could type with your voice? Meet Dictate, a Microsoft Garage project. Dictate is an Office add-in for Windows Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint that converts speech to text using the ultramodern speech recognition behind Cortana and Microsoft Translator. You can download Dictate from Microsoft’s Garage website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/garage/profiles/dictate. Once installed, you’ll find a new ribbon menu, Dictation.

2. Keyboard Shortcuts

While not groundbreaking, keyboard shortcuts remain one of the unsurpassed ways to improve productivity. This table shows the most often used shortcuts in Microsoft Word. Visit Microsoft Office Support for a complete list.

3. Synonyms Lookup

Microsoft has added the ability to look up synonyms to the right-click menu in Microsoft Word. Highlight a word and right click to open the drop-down menu. Select Synonyms and choose an innovative word.

4. Enhanced Proofreading

Word has found spelling and grammar mistakes for years but spelling and grammar are no longer enough to deliver high-quality content. Open the File menu and select Options. Click the Proofing tab and review the latest enhancements. Don’t miss the additional settings located under the Settings button.

5. Research from Word

Microsoft has included a new Researcher toolset. If you’re like most of us, you perform Google searches to help you write. Not only is Researcher faster because it’s built right into Word, but it also filters for higher quality content. A quick search of Sun Tzu won’t bring up the best fictional movie about this legendary man, it will show credible sources with valuable information.

6. Word Count

Word count is one of the most important pieces of information in delivering high-quality content. Bloomberg recommends 800–1000 words in reader-submitted content. Medium converts the word count to the ‘median time to read’ and recommends around 7 minutes. Too long, and no one will read it. Too short and you won’t provide value to your audience. Word count has been available in Microsoft Word for some time, but Microsoft has moved this critical piece of information to the bottom left corner.

7. Review with Read Aloud