To resize a window, click on a border,  hold down the left button, and move the mouse.

The term used for this action is a "Window move". It is also interesting to note that Microsoft did not use the term "drag" anywhere in the documentation.

To close a window with the mouse, you click BOTH mouse buttons at the same time on the window bar. As you do this, the cursor changes to a square with an "X" through it.

Word for DOS can have up to 8 windows open. (More than Windows 8?!)

In Word for DOS 1.x, windows can tile vertically or horizontally. They can not overlap or leave unused areas. This is similar to the behavior of Windows 1.0.

There is also a special window for footnotes. ⁽¹⁾

You can also use the mouse for selecting text, setting tab stops, and changing indentation.
 

[1] Recursive footnote. See footnote 1.

Microsoft Word for DOS has built in help. You can activate the help with the mouse by clicking on the question mark at the bottom of the screen.

The help system is nothing special. It is just a text file displayed to the screen. There are no hyperlinks, but you can select topics from the command menu.

Opening and saving a file is a little different. File operations are grouped under the "Transfer" command item, rather than the familiar term "File" that we use today.

Under the "Load" command you can enter a file name, or press the down arrow to view a list. Oddly, there doesn't seem to be anything you can click on to show the file list. From the list, you can click on a file name, but to indicate you are done you must click the command label "Transfer Load filename"

Optionally, Microsoft Word for DOS can run in pure text mode. This was necessary because some PCs of the time only had monotext cards. In color text mode, each window can have a different background color.

In text mode, formatted text is indicated using colors or intensity.

The requirement to be compatible with text-only modes is why Word for DOS does not display different fonts or sizes. This ability is added in 1985 to Word for Macintosh, and later in Word for Windows.

The kids these days still think touch screens are new and fancy. Well back in 1983/84 the HP 150 port of Word for DOS 1.x supported touch!

The above excerpt from the Word 1.x for the HP 150 manual describes how this worked. (Not included in the IBM PC version).

Shortly afterwards, people learned that holding their arms out all day and getting finger bacon grease on their monitor was a retarded thing to do.

Fast forward to 201X, all those people are dead, and their kids think screen bacon grease is cool.

(See the HP Museum for more info about the HP 150)

Like most word processors of the day, Word for DOS also has its fair share of keyboard commands. Compared to others of the time period it is perhaps not as convoluted as many, and most commands are accessible through the command menu.

Software continued to improve its user friendliness making options visible on the screen or easily accessible in menus.... until Windows 8. Yes, I was just trying to get another jab at Windows 8 in there.