Five Free Text Editors

The software in this series has been tested, checked and found to be worthy of a place in this post. Should you feel there is a more worthwhile FREE alternative, submit the title and a link to me for testing and if approved, it will be added to the list.

Metapad

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This is my default 'Notepad' replacement. I have used this for a long while now and really like the tollbar setup. It was originally designed to replace Notepad as it has all of Notepads features and a lot more.

Features:
• Persistent window placement
• Dirty file notification
• Intelligent Find and Replace
• External viewer support (e.g. web browser)
• Usable accelerator keys (Ctrl+S, Ctrl+N, etc.)
• Dual customizable font support
• Optional Quick Exit (Esc key)
• Configurable tab stop setting
• Auto-indent mode
• Go to Line/Column
• Seamless UNIX text file support
• Block indent and unindent (Tab, Shift+Tab)
• Recent files list
• No file size limit! (under Win9x)
• Hyperlink support
• Over 30 customized UI language plugins

Notepad++

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Notepad++ is a free source code editor which supports several programming languages running under the M$ Windows environment.Notepad++ is a outstanding freeware replacement for Notepad. Notepad++ works with tabs, so it's very easy to work with multiple files open at the same time.

Features:
• Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding
• WYSIWYG
• User Defined Syntax Highlighting
• Auto-completion
• Multi-Document
• Multi-View
• Regular Expression Search/Replace supported
• Full Drag ‘N' Drop supported
• Dynamic position of Views
• File Status Auto-detection
• Zoom in and zoom out
• Multi-Language environment supported
• Bookmarks
• Brace and Indent guideline Highlighting
• Macro recording and playback

Notepad2

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The original Notepad shipped with Windows is probably the handiest program of all times, small, fast, without frills! Notepad2 tries to follow this principle, being a fast, small and free text editor with syntax highlighting for HTML and other common languages.

Features:
• Customizable syntax highlighting:
• HTML, JavaScript, VBScript, ASP, PHP, CSS, Perl/CGI
• C/C++, C#, Java, VB, Pascal, Assembler, SQL
• INI, REG, INF, BAT, DIFF
• Drag & drop text editing inside and outside Notepad2
• Basic regular expression search and replace
• Useful word, line and block editing shortcuts
• Rectangular selection (Alt+Mouse)
• Brace matching, auto indent, long line marker, zoom functions
• Support for Unicode, UTF-8, Unix and Mac text files
• Open shell links
• Mostly adjustable

TinyEdit

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Weighing in at just under 600K, TinyEdit is a perfect fit for a flash drive or a cheap netbook. Combined with its syntax-highlighting features and tabbed interface, it's the perfect text editing program to go on any sysadmin's digital, or actual, Swiss army knife.

Features:
• Powerful and easy to use
• Syntax highlighting for more than 26 scripts
• Multiple document interface
• Unlimited undo/redo capability
• Text can be automatically word-wrapped
• Line number, Powerful search and replace
• Only one executable file (no need install)

EditPad Lite

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This editor opens multiple files (each in its own tab), opens files of any size, and allows unlimited undo and redo--in other words, it has everything that Notepad doesn't! EditPad puts an icon in the system tray that remains visible, even if it is closed. This way you have easy and fast access to it.

Features:
• Open as many files as you want
• Tabs
• Unlimited Undo/Redo
• Reads/writes UNIX
• Block Functions
• Reopen Menu
• Uppercase, lowercase, invert case and initial caps conversion

 

Modified to the new format.

 

Well done! It lays out the choices so clearly and even the appearance of the posts is impressive!