Microsoft ends age old debate, flags double spaces as errors in Word
If you use two spaces after a period, Word will highlight it as an error and offer to correct it to a single space instead using the app’s Editor capabilities.
Microsoft has finally ended the age-old space debate by siding with people who think that a single space after a period (or a full stop) is correct.
The company has started rolling out an update to Word that will flag two spaces after a period. Simply said, if you use two spaces after a period, Word will highlight it as an error and offer to correct it to a single space instead using the app's Editor capabilities.
"As the crux of the great spacing debate, we know this is a stylistic choice that may not be the preference for all writers, which is why we continue to test with users and enable these suggestions to be easily accepted, ignored, or flat out dismissed in Editor," Kirk Gregersen, partner director of program management at Microsoft said in a statement to The Verge.
The company recently started testing the feature on the desktop version of Word and it is likely to arrive on your Windows PCs soon.
Meanwhile, the feature has already created a buzz on Twitter with a lot of people getting frustrated with the update. Here what they are saying:
So many people doing so many things wrong.
— Mike Belch (@cheesymike) April 25, 2020
- Single space after period
- yyyy-mm-dd
- Jam before cream
It's not difficult to be civilised 😃
At a time of social distancing, why is Microsoft trying to force people to put their sentences closer together?
— Jon Alan Schmidt (@JonAlanSchmidt) April 23, 2020
More seriously, if you decide to comply with the new orthodoxy, you can do a "find & replace" to change all instances of two spaces to one space in a single step.
So we just let Microsoft rule the literary world? I view a single space as a sign of the writer's laziness or a lack of attention to detail.
— Ron Smith (@RonSmithRS) April 11, 2020
The good news is that if you are a two-spacer, you will still be able to ignore the suggestion and use two spaces instead of one after a period. In addition to that, you will be able to turn off this feature or the writing-style suggestion feature altogether.
Catch all the Latest Tech News, Mobile News, Laptop News, Gaming news, Wearables News , How To News, also keep up with us on Whatsapp channel,Twitter, Facebook, Google News, and Instagram. For our latest videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel.
