For example, you might have a macro in your word processor that sets the default font to Times 12, adjusts the line spacing, runs spellcheck, and saves the file. You could perform all of these steps automatically by using the macro. The problem started with recent versions of Microsoft Word and Excel. The macro language in these products is very powerful, and in fact is a kind of programming language. This macro programming language is powerful enough to allow the creation of viruses.
Macro viruses are highly contagious.
Because of this, even though macro viruses have only been around a comparatively short time, they are already the most common type of virus. These are all known hoaxes. Remember that a virus is a program, and an email message is text only. There is no way for the text of a message to be infectious, so don't fear your email. While the message itself cannot transmit a virus, a program sent as an attachment can be infected like a program sent on a disk.