Microsoft Editor

Summary


Microsoft Editor is a closed source AI-powered writing assistant available for Word, Outlook, and as a Chromium browser extension part of Office 365. It includes the essentials in a writing assistant, such as a grammar and spell checker. Microsoft provides a basic version of Editor for free but users need to have a Microsoft account.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Microsoft Editor: Spelling & Grammar Checker
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial releaseJuly 2016
Written inJavaScript, C#
Included withMicrosoft Office, Microsoft Edge
Size1.92MiB Chrome Web Store
Available in100+ languages es including Arabic - Czech - Danish - Dutch - English - Finnish - French - German - Hebrew (not yet available in the desktop Word app) - Hungarian - Italian - Japanese - Korean - Norwegian (Bokmål) - Polish - Portuguese (Brazil) - Portuguese (Portugal) - Russian - Spanish - Swedish - Turkish
WebsiteTry it!
How to use it
Version Price
Microsoft 365 Personal $6 monthly
Microsoft 365 Family $9 monthly

Tools and features edit

Editor score using :[1]

  • Corrections:
    • Spelling
    • Basic Grammar: Flags capitalization, subject verb agreement, hyphen use, and other basic grammar errors
    • Advanced Grammar (paid version) Flag indirect questions, misheard phrases, commonly confused phrases, and other more complex grammar issues
  • Refinements (paid version):
    • Clarity: Flags incorrect use of words, uncommon jargon, abstract words, passive voice, and double negatives.
    • Conciseness: Flags wordiness, conjunction overuse
    • Formality: Flags slang, informal phrases, colloquialisms, contractions, and other markers of casual, more conversational language.
    • Inclusiveness: Flags slurs and deprecated descriptors of people
    • Perspectives
    • Punctuation conventions: Flags unnecessary commas, punctuation with quotes, sentence spacing, and other issues related to punctuation.
    • Sensitive geopolitical references: promotes using official or neutral names and phrases, and tries to help when names of places have changed over time.
    • Vocabulary: Flags vague adjectives, weak verbs, clichés, and other issues related to word choice. Recommends idiomatic collective nouns, such as beds of oysters over collections of oysters.[7] Recommends using terms specific to the reader's country or region, such as parkade over parking garage for Canadian readers.[7] Editor recommends avoiding words that are specific to a US region; for example, it will suggest replacing bubbler with water fountain.[7]

Geopolitical references edit

As described by Microsoft's Detailed descriptions of grammar and refinement guidance of June 2020, the guidance on sensitive geopolitical references promotes[7]

  • using official place names, such as Canada over Republic of Canada,
  • using the most politically neutral place name, such as Sea of Japan (East Sea) over East Sea,
  • avoiding geopolitical terms that may imply bias, so it suggests using East Asia instead of Orient,
  • avoiding the word 'dialect' for some languages,
  • using current geopolitical terms such as Czech instead of Czechoslovak,
  • using current place names, such as St. Petersburg over Leningrad,
  • avoiding technological terms that evoke geopolitical or humanitarian issues, so it suggests using secondary database over slave database,
  • using modern transliterations, such as Chongqing over Chungking,
  • double-checking names of defunct geopolitical entities in modern contexts, such as asking if Eastern Germany is beautiful in summer might be more appropriate than The GDR is beautiful in summer,
  • using official names of languages, such as Persian over Farsi, or European Spanish or Spanish over standard Spanish,
  • and double-checking place names whose meaning has changed over time, such as Akmolinsk versus Tselinograd.

Platform support edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Gunnell, Marshall (6 October 2020). "What Is Microsoft Editor, and How Do I Use It?". How-To Geek. Archived from the original on 2020-10-12. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  2. ^ "Microsoft Editor for Word, Edge, and Outlook makes you a better writer". Windows Central. 2020-03-30. Archived from the original on 2020-04-01. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  3. ^ "Microsoft launches Researcher and Editor in Word, Zoom in PowerPoint". VentureBeat. 2016-07-26. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  4. ^ "Microsoft brings Teams to consumers and launches Microsoft 365 personal and family plans". TechCrunch. 30 March 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  5. ^ Tung, Liam. "Microsoft: Chrome, Edge, Word and Outlook get this free Editor AI grammar assistant". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  6. ^ a b Andrew Braun (2020-06-02). "Grammarly vs. Microsoft Editor: Which One Should You Use?". Make Tech Easier. Archived from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  7. ^ a b c d "Detailed descriptions of grammar and refinement guidance". Microsoft. 2020-06-30. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-08-02. This document provides explanations and examples for the grammar and refinement guidance provided in the Microsoft Editor service.
  8. ^ "Microsoft Edge Dev is updated to version 88.0.692.0". BCFocus. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-11-15.