<s>
MicroPro	B-Application
International	O
Corporation	O
was	O
an	O
American	O
software	O
company	O
founded	O
in	O
1978	O
in	O
San	O
Rafael	O
,	O
California	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
best	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
publisher	O
of	O
WordStar	B-Application
,	O
a	O
popular	O
early	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
for	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Seymour	O
I	O
.	O
Rubinstein	O
was	O
an	O
employee	O
of	O
early	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
company	O
IMSAI	O
,	O
where	O
he	O
negotiated	O
software	O
contracts	O
with	O
Digital	O
Research	O
and	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
founded	O
MicroPro	B-Application
International	O
Corporation	O
in	O
September	O
1978	O
and	O
hired	O
John	O
Robbins	O
Barnaby	O
as	O
programmer	O
,	O
who	O
wrote	O
a	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
,	O
WordMaster	B-Application
,	O
and	O
a	O
sorting	O
program	O
,	O
SuperSort	O
,	O
in	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
8080	I-General_Concept
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
Rubinstein	O
obtained	O
a	O
report	O
that	O
discussed	O
the	O
abilities	O
of	O
contemporary	O
standalone	O
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
from	O
IBM	O
,	O
Xerox	O
,	O
and	O
Wang	O
Laboratories	O
,	O
Barnaby	O
enhanced	O
WordMaster	B-Application
with	O
similar	O
features	O
and	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
CP/M	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MicroPro	B-Application
began	O
selling	O
the	O
product	O
,	O
now	O
renamed	O
WordStar	B-Application
,	O
in	O
June	O
1979	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
early	O
1980	O
,	O
MicroPro	B-Application
claimed	O
in	O
advertisements	O
that	O
5,000	O
people	O
had	O
purchased	O
WordStar	B-Application
in	O
eight	O
months	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
exhausted	O
Barnaby	O
left	O
the	O
company	O
in	O
March	O
1980	O
,	O
but	O
due	O
to	O
WordStar	B-Application
's	O
sophistication	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
extensive	O
sales	O
and	O
marketing	O
efforts	O
,	O
and	O
bundling	O
deals	O
with	O
Osborne	O
and	O
other	O
computer	O
makers	O
,	O
MicroPro	B-Application
's	O
sales	O
grew	O
from	O
in	O
1979	O
to	O
million	O
in	O
fiscal	O
year	O
1984	O
,	O
surpassing	O
earlier	O
market	O
leader	O
Electric	B-Application
Pencil	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
May	O
1983	O
BYTE	O
magazine	O
called	O
WordStar	B-Application
"	O
without	O
a	O
doubt	O
the	O
best-known	O
and	O
probably	O
the	O
most	O
widely	O
used	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
word-processing	B-General_Concept
program	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
released	O
WordStar	B-Application
3.3	O
in	O
June	O
1983	O
;	O
the	O
650,000	O
cumulative	O
copies	O
of	O
WordStar	B-Application
for	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
and	O
other	O
computers	O
sold	O
by	O
that	O
fall	O
was	O
more	O
than	O
double	O
that	O
of	O
the	O
second	O
most-popular	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
that	O
year	O
MicroPro	B-Application
had	O
10%	O
of	O
the	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
software	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1984	O
,	O
the	O
year	O
it	O
held	O
an	O
initial	O
public	O
offering	O
,	O
MicroPro	B-Application
was	O
the	O
world	O
's	O
largest	O
software	O
company	O
with	O
23%	O
of	O
the	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
additionally	O
scored	O
a	O
contract	O
with	O
the	O
Kaypro	O
Corporation	O
to	O
have	O
its	O
WordStar	B-Application
,	O
MailMerge	O
,	O
CalcStar	O
,	O
DataStar	O
,	O
and	O
SuperSort	O
applications	O
included	O
with	O
all	O
of	O
Kaypro	O
's	O
bundled	O
computer	O
packages	O
in	O
April	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
was	O
replaced	O
by	O
E	O
.	O
Glen	O
Haney	O
,	O
previously	O
the	O
vice	O
president	O
of	O
strategic	O
planning	O
at	O
Sperry	O
Corporation	O
,	O
under	O
which	O
he	O
had	O
spearheaded	O
Sperry	O
Link	O
—	O
an	O
office	O
productivity	O
software	O
suite	O
of	O
Sperry	O
's	O
own	O
—	O
which	O
Haney	O
said	O
afforded	O
him	O
experience	O
in	O
the	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WordStar	B-Application
became	O
popular	O
in	O
large	O
companies	O
without	O
MicroPro	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
late	O
1984	O
the	O
company	O
admitted	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
magazine	O
,	O
that	O
WordStar	B-Application
's	O
reputation	O
for	O
power	O
was	O
fading	O
,	O
and	O
by	O
early	O
1985	O
its	O
sales	O
had	O
decreased	O
for	O
four	O
quarters	O
while	O
those	O
of	O
Multimate	O
and	O
Samna	O
increased	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
MicroPro	B-Application
employees	O
meanwhile	O
formed	O
rival	O
company	O
Newstar	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
1983	O
it	O
published	O
WordStar	B-Application
clone	O
NewWord	B-Application
,	O
which	O
offered	O
several	O
features	O
the	O
original	O
lacked	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
built-in	O
spell	B-Application
checker	I-Application
and	O
support	O
for	O
laser	O
printers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Advertisements	O
stated	O
that	O
"	O
Anyone	O
with	O
WordStar	B-Application
experience	O
wo	O
n't	O
even	O
have	O
to	O
read	O
NewWord	B-Application
's	O
manuals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WordStar	B-Application
text	O
files	O
work	O
with	O
NewWord	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
competition	O
from	O
NewStar	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
Word	O
,	O
WordPerfect	B-Application
,	O
and	O
dozens	O
of	O
other	O
companies	O
,	O
which	O
typically	O
released	O
new	O
versions	O
of	O
their	O
software	O
every	O
12	O
to	O
18	O
months	O
,	O
MicroPro	B-Application
did	O
not	O
release	O
new	O
versions	O
of	O
WordStar	B-Application
beyond	O
3.3	O
during	O
1984	O
and	O
1985	O
,	O
in	O
part	O
because	O
Rubinstein	O
relinquished	O
control	O
of	O
the	O
company	O
after	O
a	O
January	O
1984	O
heart	O
attack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
His	O
replacements	O
canceled	O
the	O
promising	O
office	O
suite	O
Starburst	B-Application
,	O
purchased	O
a	O
WordStar	B-Application
clone	O
,	O
and	O
used	O
it	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
WordStar	B-Application
2000	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
December	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
received	O
poor	O
reviews	O
—	O
by	O
April	O
1985	O
PC	O
Magazine	O
referred	O
to	O
WordStar	B-Application
2000	O
as	O
"	O
beleaguered	O
"	O
—	O
due	O
to	O
not	O
being	O
compatible	O
with	O
WordStar	B-Application
files	O
and	O
other	O
disadvantages	O
,	O
and	O
by	O
selling	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
price	O
as	O
WordStar	B-Application
3.3	O
confused	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Company	O
employees	O
were	O
divided	O
between	O
WordStar	B-Application
and	O
WordStar	B-Application
2000	O
factions	O
,	O
and	O
fiscal	O
year	O
1985	O
sales	O
declined	O
to	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
management	O
purchased	O
NewWord	B-Application
and	O
used	O
it	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
WordStar	B-Application
4.0	O
in	O
1987	O
,	O
four	O
years	O
after	O
the	O
previous	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Word	O
(	O
four	O
versions	O
from	O
1983	O
to	O
1987	O
)	O
and	O
WordPerfect	B-Application
(	O
five	O
versions	O
)	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
had	O
become	O
the	O
market	O
leaders	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
conflict	O
between	O
MicroPro	B-Application
's	O
two	O
factions	O
delayed	O
WordStar	B-Application
5.0	O
until	O
late	O
1988	O
,	O
again	O
hurting	O
the	O
program	O
's	O
sales	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
renaming	O
itself	O
after	O
its	O
flagship	O
product	O
in	O
1989	O
,	O
WordStar	B-Application
International	I-Application
merged	O
with	O
SoftKey	B-General_Concept
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WordStar	B-Application
was	O
the	O
first	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
to	O
offer	O
mail	B-Application
merge	I-Application
and	O
textual	O
WYSIWYG	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
word-wrapping	O
(	O
still	O
a	O
notable	O
feature	O
for	O
early	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
programs	O
)	O
,	O
this	O
last	O
was	O
most	O
noticeably	O
implemented	O
as	O
on-screen	O
pagination	O
during	O
the	O
editing	O
session	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
lines-per-page	O
given	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
during	O
program	O
installation	O
,	O
Wordstar	B-Application
would	O
display	O
a	O
full	O
line	O
of	O
dash	O
characters	O
onscreen	O
showing	O
where	O
page	O
breaks	O
would	O
occur	O
during	O
hardcopy	O
printout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SpellStar	O
was	O
an	O
add-on	O
program	O
to	O
WordStar	B-Application
that	O
allowed	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
check	B-Application
words	I-Application
for	I-Application
misspellings	I-Application
against	O
either	O
a	O
dictionary	O
of	O
20,000	O
English	O
words	O
,	O
a	O
user-defined	O
dictionary	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
third-party	O
dictionary	O
list	O
for	O
other	O
languages	O
besides	O
English	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SpellStar	O
marked	O
words	O
flagged	O
as	O
misspelled	O
in	O
real	O
time	O
within	O
WordStar	B-Application
and	O
allowed	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
review	O
words	O
that	O
it	O
flagged	O
as	O
misspelled	O
but	O
for	O
which	O
it	O
could	O
not	O
find	O
a	O
close	O
replacement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MailMerge	O
was	O
another	O
add-on	O
program	O
to	O
WordStar	B-Application
(	O
becoming	O
integrated	O
from	O
WordStar	B-Application
4	O
onwards	O
)	O
which	O
facilitated	O
the	O
merge	O
printing	O
of	O
bulk	O
mailings	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
business	O
letters	O
to	O
clients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
a	O
data	O
file	O
,	O
being	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
recipients	O
stored	O
in	O
a	O
non-document	O
,	O
comma-delimited	O
plain	O
ASCII	O
text	O
file	O
,	O
typically	O
named	O
Clients.dat	O
(	O
although	O
WordStar	B-Application
had	O
no	O
requirement	O
for	O
a	O
specific	O
file	O
extension	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
:	O
Mr.	O
,	O
Michael	O
,	O
Smith	O
,	O
7	O
Oakland	O
Drive	O
,...	O
WordStar	B-Application
would	O
also	O
access	O
Lotus123	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
files	O
( *	O
.wk1	O
)	O
for	O
this	O
data	O
and	O
if	O
the	O
data	O
contained	O
flags	O
to	O
start	O
and	O
stop	O
WordStar	B-Application
processing	O
the	O
data	O
then	O
flags	O
could	O
be	O
set	O
so	O
that	O
certain	O
'	O
clients	O
 '	O
are	O
omitted	O
from	O
the	O
output	O
stream	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
StarIndex	O
was	O
a	O
indexing	O
and	O
chapter	O
management	O
program	O
that	O
allowed	O
WordStar	B-Application
users	O
to	O
demarcate	O
chapter	O
title	O
headings	O
and	O
sectional	O
subheadings	O
to	O
automatically	O
generate	O
a	O
table	O
of	O
contents	O
(	O
also	O
allowing	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
adjust	O
the	O
degree	O
of	O
the	O
subheadings	O
the	O
table	O
of	O
contents	O
lists	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CalcStar	O
was	O
an	O
entry-level	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
application	O
,	O
introduced	O
for	O
CP/M	B-Application
in	O
November	O
1981	O
and	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
in	O
April	O
1983	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
direct	O
competitor	O
to	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
,	O
MicroPro	B-Application
programmed	O
CalcStar	O
's	O
shortcut	O
keys	O
to	O
closely	O
follow	O
WordStar	B-Application
's	O
and	O
allowed	O
for	O
direct	O
formatting	O
of	O
text	O
within	O
cells	O
,	O
including	O
boldface	O
and	O
underlining	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Introduced	O
in	O
1982	O
,	O
PlanStar	O
was	O
another	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
application	O
,	O
oriented	O
toward	O
financial	O
planners	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PlanStar	O
prioritized	O
the	O
presentation	O
of	O
data	O
over	O
number-crunching	O
,	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
define	O
such	O
through	O
an	O
instruction	O
list	O
of	O
name	B-Application
–	I-Application
value	I-Application
pairs	I-Application
that	O
define	O
the	O
headers	O
of	O
rows	O
and	O
columns	O
,	O
what	O
to	O
calculate	O
,	O
and	O
how	O
the	O
data	O
is	O
to	O
be	O
formatted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
supported	O
rudimentary	O
creation	O
of	O
graphic	O
reports	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
pies	O
and	O
line	B-Application
charts	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Up	O
to	O
9,999	O
stored	O
instructions	O
were	O
supported	O
,	O
to	O
manipulate	O
an	O
array	O
of	O
999	O
"	O
worksheets	O
"	O
(	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
amortization	B-General_Concept
;	O
</s>
<s>
linear	B-General_Concept
regression	I-General_Concept
;	O
</s>
<s>
rounding	B-Algorithm
;	O
</s>
<s>
InfoStar	O
was	O
a	O
database	B-Application
manager	I-Application
introduced	O
in	O
early	O
1982	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Introduced	O
in	O
1980	O
and	O
later	O
integrated	O
into	O
InfoStar	O
,	O
DataStar	O
consisted	O
of	O
a	O
form	O
creation	O
wizard	O
and	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
application	O
(	O
FormGen	O
)	O
and	O
a	O
database	O
retrieval	O
and	O
updating	O
utility	O
(	O
DataStar	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Introduced	O
in	O
1984	O
,	O
StarBurst	B-Application
was	O
a	O
menu-based	O
shell	O
that	O
attempted	O
to	O
integrate	O
the	O
full	O
line	O
of	O
MicroPro	B-Application
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MicroPro	B-Application
sold	O
the	O
application	O
separately	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
bundling	O
it	O
with	O
InfoStar	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
InfoStar+	O
package	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
first-ever	O
office	O
suite	O
of	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
programs	O
.	O
</s>
