Windows Notepad can officially be termed as ‘irritating and frustrating’ because of its limited functionality to view txt files with a major ‘characteristic’ of it being slightly less non user friendly
I searched and at least found 2 better alternatives for Windows Notepad. So here are they:
Notepad2:
Scintilla-based Notepad2 is a freeware alternative to Windows Notepad which is a fast and light-weight Notepad-like text editor and comes with syntax highlighting and enlists line numbers for your code. This program can be run out of the box without installation, and does not enters into your system’s registry.Notepad2 has also been extended by other developers to add more functionality for example Notepad x64 has been released for 64-bit platforms, NotepadCrypt is available with encryption features, and other variants for lua syntax highlighting, NSIS syntax highlighting, Ruby syntax highlighting and ABAP syntax highlighting.
Notepad++
Notepad++ is also Scintilla-based and is written in C++, uses win32 API and STL to ensure that editor remains compact in size while execution is fast. The user friendly and feature-packed Notepad++ comes in more than 50+ local languages including Chinese, french, Spanish, German, Italian and many other local languages. Apart from functionality being super, the developers of Notepad++ have also paid attention to its visual beauty as well. So you have the option to download skins and themes.
- Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding
- User Defined Syntax Highlighting
- Auto-completion
- Multi-Document
- Multi-View
- Regular Expression Search/Replace supported
- Full Drag ‘N’ Drop supported
- Zoom in and zoom out
- Multi-Language environment supported
- Bookmark
- Brace and Indent guideline Highlighting
- Macro recording and playback
There is also Programmer’s Notepad – open source, scriptable, multiple document Scintilla-based editor.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
NP++ is reasonably useful, but beware if you rely heavily on either macros or regular expressions. Its regular expression support is pretty limited (e.g., no multi-line patterns, no line breaks). Also, its support for macros is buggy and limited (e.g., it doesn’t even allow you to view and/or edit macros after you’ve recorded them).
It’s a shame, since NP++ has the makings of greatness. It’s so close, but so maddeningly far…
Spot on with this write-up, I truly assume this website needs way more consideration. I’ll probably be again to read way more, thanks for that info.