I'm using Windows XP Pro and the version of Notepad that's on here is really screwy, and Wordpad isn't much better. I'd like to find a replacement for notepad that works pretty much the same way - plain text, fast loading, not a lot of obnoxious features - but without the screwiness. Can anybody recommend a free alternative?
Or, does anybody know how to "fix" notepad? It seems to have obnoxious issues with word wrapping. When you save, it locks the text wrapped to where it was, and anything you type starts bumping the text around funny. Sometimes resizing the window fixes this, but it sure is annoying.
ID:181930
 May 30 2009, 8:46 pm (Edited on May 30 2009, 8:51 pm)
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I suggest gedit. Windows builds are here: http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/gedit/
Pros: * no obnoxious extra features * obnoxious extra features available via plugins if you feel curious * fast-loading, plain-text, no nonsense Cons: * uses GTK+, so doesn't look perfectly Windows-esque * large install size due to GTK+ dependency (roughly 15M) | |
Jp wrote:
Notepad++ is the standard alternative people suggest, I believe, but that might come under the heading of 'obnoxious extra features'. Yeah, I definitely back him up with Notepad++, it's a great application and some of the features are excellent, such as the FTP feature which allows you to upload your work to the connected ftp server everytime you save. Seriously, it's a great tool. I use it for a bunch of other things, just wait for Tiberath. He'll give you a better overview of it ;) | |
The features are easily disabled so if you don't mind about three minutes of configuring than go with Notepad++.
George Gough | |
PirateHead wrote:
* large install size due to GTK+ dependency (roughly 15M) Heh, these days I can install all 500 megs of OpenOffice on my flash drive without a second though. Unless you're copying DVDs to your computer, size doesn't matter so much anymore. :P | |
I don't know if this will fix all your problems, but you can disable word wrapping in notepad in the Format menu.
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Airjoe wrote:
I don't know if this will fix all your problems, but you can disable word wrapping in notepad in the Format menu. Why would I want to disable it? Then I'd have to re-insert line breaks every time I add or remove text from a paragraph. | |
Sorry then, misunderstood you. I had never used notepad with word wrapping and one time was on a computer that had it enabled. It was a very "WTF?" moment for me, thought you were in the same boat.
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It might be good to ask what you are using it for. You said you use wordwrap and don't want to disable it, that tells me you aren't programming. If you are using it as a note taking device, there are some great very simple note taking applications that are strongly focused on that task.
If you use it for rough drafting writing, you might look into making your own simple text editor. I've often felt that NotePad was actually overkill. There is a super simple python demo text editor that might be up your ally, and it would be really easy to tweak if you felt you needed. | |
The ultimate lightweight notepad alternative is http://pyroom.org/
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Looks nice, but I don't like the whole singletasking interface. If your typing up a story, or transcribing something from a physical paper, it would be awesome. For doing a research paper it wouldn't work.
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Also, there's Notepad2, similar deal.