Microsoft Word, initially released for MS-DOS in 1983, gained dominance after versions for the Apple Macintosh and Windows demonstrated the power of WYSIWYG editing. By the late 1980s and into the 1990s it had become the world's most widely used word processor. Word's ubiquity standardised digital manuscript formatting across the publishing industry and gave writers unprecedented ease of revision and layout control.

The dominance of Microsoft Word since 1985 standardized digital poetry composition, allowing poets to easily format and submit their work. This technological shift has influenced the accessibility and dissemination of poetry in the digital age, enabling a broader range of voices to enter the literary conversation.