About the Doc file format
- Name
- Word Document
- Extension
- .doc
- Format
- Binary
- Category
- Document
- Developer
- Microsoft
- Description
- A DOC file is a word processing document created by Microsoft Word, or another word processing program, such as OpenOffice Writer or Apple Pages. It may contain formatted text, images, tables, graphs, charts, page formatting, and print settings.
- MIME Type
- application/msword
- Sample
- sample.doc
- Wikipedia
- .doc on Wikipedia
Word document (DOC), popularly known as Microsoft Word, is a word processing document developed by Microsoft. It was first released under the name Multi-Tool Word on October 25, 1983, for Xenix systems. Commercial versions of Word are licensed as a standalone product or a component of Microsoft Office or Windows RT.
Microsoft Word’s native file formats have a .doc filename extension. Among its features, Word has a built-in spell checker, a dictionary, a thesaurus, and utilities for manipulating and editing text. Word document has been updated several times since its release.
Several later versions of Word include the ability for the user to create their formatting template. As a result, users can define the title, heading, paragraph, and other element designs that differ from the standard Word templates. It can also import and display images in common bitmap formats such as JPG and GIF. Additionally, it can be used to create and display simple line art.
However, starting from Microsoft 2007, the XML-based .docx format became the default Microsoft Word document. Microsoft then began slowly phasing out the older .doc formats.
AbiWord, OpenOffice.org Writer, Apple Pages, and IBM Lotus Symphony, can open and create .doc files. Google Docs will also let you open and edit .doc files.