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Recommended Text Editors for Win32?

Posted by Cliff on from the vi-emacs-and-notepad.exe-are-not-valid-choices dept.

Dave asks: "I must us a Windows machine at work where I do web development and system administration. I have been looking for a "decent" editor to use on Windows, but thus far have come up short. GVim doesn't do it for me, on linux it's fine, but on Windows it isn't the most stable thing around. I've also tried Windows versions of MicroEmacs and Vile. What do other Slashdot users develop in when they must use a Windows machine?"

7 of 277 comments (clear)

  1. TextPad 32 by km790816 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I love this editor.

    Adds itself to the context menu in explorer so you can open anything in it.
    Supports huge files.
    Color codes C++, Java, etc.
    Handles indenting and word-wrap well.
    Has an 'always on top' feature.
    Easy to asign file associations from the UI.

    http://www.textpad.com

    --
    A speech...
  2. screw that *nix crap by self+assembled+struc · · Score: 3, Interesting

    honestly this is not a troll

    but on windows use something that is designed for windows and not ported as an afterthought.

    when i have to use a pc to edit (i mainly use bbedit on os x, which is by far and large the best editor i have EVER used) i use textedit

    yeah, it's shareware, but it's not disabled in anyway and the only shareware part is that once in a thousand saves you get a dialogue that says "register or not" and the not button isn't time delayed or any of that crap, you click "not now" and it shuts up like a good piece of software.

    1. Re:screw that *nix crap by 1010011010 · · Score: 3, Interesting


      UltraEdit32 is great.

      --
      Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
  3. Text editors... by pb · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My absolute favorite programming IDE ever was Borland Turbo Pascal 7.0; therefore, I'm a sucker for any editor written in TurboVision, like RHIDE or SetEdit.

    DOS Edit is still pretty decent in the console; on the GUI side, NoteTab is a notepad replacement on steroids (the "Light" version is free).

    If you download Cygwin, you can compile almost any UNIX-y text editor you want, including my favorite--nano.

    And if all else fails, Ask Google!

    --
    pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
  4. HomeSite and C++Builder by Electrum · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For anything web related (HTML, CSS, PHP) I use HomeSite. It works. Great editor, nice syntax highlighting, lots of nice features. I haven't found anything even remotely comparable for Linux, unfortunately. For C/C++, C++Builder is excellent. The syntax highlighting works well and the editor is amazingly fast. Works on files of literally any size with no slowdowns.

  5. Re:Visual Slickedit by mlc · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I also like this software, even enough that it's possibly the only piece of commercial software I own and use (they have a Linux port, as well as port to many other Unices). Definitely worth the $99 student price.

    It's the only editor I could find that properly supports HTML/PHP as nicely as MSVC++ supports C++ (pop-up function help and other goodies). I also use it for Java, occasionally for C. When I had the misfortune of having to use Cold Fusion for a class once, it supported that too.

  6. Notepad - Here's why. by FreeLinux · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I use notepad. Lots of people do. But, the reason may not be what you think it is.

    So many people use Notepad for the same reason that so many people use Vi. The simple reason is that you can find it on *every* system. If you work in a Windows shop you will likely be working on other machines than your own. These other machines will not have your favorite "SlickEditor" but, they will have Notepad. Regardless of whether the machine is 95/98/NT/2000/XP notepad will be there. The same holds true with Vi. If you work in a *nix environment, you can be assured that whatever machine you use will have Vi. They may or may not have GEdit or Kwrite or even Emacs but, Vi wil be there.

    Of course, if you use only Notepad and then go to a *nix system, you'll have a hell of a time with Vi.