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What most people think of today as "word processor" programs are actually low-end desktop publishing systems.

A useful taxonomy might include:

* text editors: produce and edit text, saved to files

* formatting languages: inline, interlinear and/or out-of-band formatting to define semantic and/or visual layout

* word processors: text editors with an integrated formatting system with the ability to integrate some graphic elements, producing either printable documents or a specialized save format. Most likely to offer WYSIWYG-ish as the primary interface.

* publishing systems: formatting systems designed to create templates and apply them to produce repeatable-but-tweakable documents from multiple inputs and updated contents



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