The spelling tools in both WP and MS Word have "intelligence" to some degree. This is demonstrated by the AutoCorrect feature in MS Word and the QuickCorrect feature in WP. These features can automatically correct misspelled words. For example, in both applications, if a user types teh in a document, the correction facilities can automatically change this to the . Note that this is done automatically when the user is typing, and NOT when the user invokes the spelling tool.
In WP however, the user must first manually configure any words to be automatically corrected, whereas MS Word seems to have a predefined list of automatic corrections, in addition to allowing the user to add customized corrections. Automated corrections (including the predefined ones in MS Word) can be supressed by removing them from the correction list, or by turning off the automatic correction facilities.
Both the AutoCorrect and the QuickCorrect feature can also be used to aid users in other ways. For instance, these tools can be used for automatic expansion of abbreviated words, or automatic separation of combined words. As an example of the latter, if a user types in "helikes" , the correction facilities can be made to change this into "he likes".
The autocorrection features of the spell checkers are very useful, although they pose extra work if the user wants to purposely include a misspelled word like "adn" in a document. (For example, in using the applications to type up this Web page!).
Ignoring the more "intelligent" features of these spell checkers, the MS Word tool does offer some advantages over WP . In checking the spelling of a document, a user often uses words that he/she wishes for the spelling tool to skip. For this reason, a user may become so accustomed to pressing the "skip" button (or the "add" button if the user is adding the word to a custom dictionary), that the user may inadvertently press "skip" (or "add") by mistake and realize this too late. While MS Word allows the user to backtrack to the last correction, WP does not. MS Word also gives the user the option of replacing just the current word OR replacing all of the similarly spelled words in the rest of the document. Conversely, once WP makes a correction, it applies the correction to the rest of the document.