Doc (an abbreviation of document) is a file extension for word processing documents; it is associated mainly with Microsoft and their Microsoft Word application. Historically, it was used for documentation in plain-text format, particularly of programs or computer hardware, on a wide range of operating systems. Almost everyone would have used the doc file format, whenever you write a letter, do some work or generally write on your PC you will use the doc file format. It was in the 1990s that Microsoft chose the doc extension for their proprietary Microsoft Word processing formats. As PC technology has grown the original uses for the extension have become less important and have largely disappeared from the PC world.
Early versions of the doc file format contained mostly formatted text, however development of the format has allowed doc files to contain a wide variety of embedded objects such as charts and tables from other applications as well as media such as videos, images, sounds and diagrams. doc files can also contain mail merge information, which allows a word-processed template to be used in conjunction with a spreadsheet or database.
Associated programs
AbiWord Apple Pages AppleWorks KWord Microsoft Word StarOffice
The .pcx file extension was developed in the 1980s by the ZSoft Corporation. It has since been superseded by other image formats such as png, giff and jpeg. The file type is used rarely at present, however certain scanning devices still output to the .pcx format.
The PCX format was one of the first common bitmap image formats. A PCX file comprises of three elements: the header, image data and the 256 colour palette. PCX utiises a lossless compression technique. The compression technique used is not processor intensive which was an advantage at the time of development due to the relatively limited processing power of hardware in the 1980s.
Associated programs
Adobe Photoshop Microsoft Paint Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
