Oct
17
2005

Where's My Notepad?

Monday, October 17, 2005 - 09:29:30 pm
(Posted Under: Geek, Linux Linux)
I find the followiong Slashdot article compelling: http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/16/235216&from=rss.

Obviously bad mouthing vim makes my blood boil (yes, can you say zealot), but what I find compellingly...compelling [wink] is the comparison of vim to Notepad...on Slashdot. Like Notepad can be even classed as a text editor! Sure, if you can't use vim, find, but at least compare it to an actual GUI text editor! Sheesh.

I also find it compelling the lack of progress in Microsoft Window's base applications in 20 years. A few years ago I found a site that had special builds of Windows 1 & 2 apps, tweaked to run on 32bit Windows. Comparing Notepad from Windows 1.01 (© 1985) to Windows XP (© 2001) is....a lot of things, including sad.

Enhancements in Notepad since 1985:
  • 32 bit (I guess) icon vs. monochrome icon
  • File Menu has "Page Setup" and "Exit"
  • Edit Meny has some different key bindings
  • 'Clear' is labeled 'Delete' (Edit Menu)
  • 'Word Wrap' moved to Format Menu
  • Replace functionality
  • Font selection
  • Status bar toggling
  • Unicode Support
  • Support for files larger than 64K
So, in terms of real differences, 64K+ support (shocking that that didn't exist until realitvely recently - first time I saw it was XP), replace functionality (wow, an editor that can replace text, how futuristic!) and Unicode support. In 20 years. I find it both hilarious and sad.

What I find most annoying, and shocking is that Notepad still can't read or write UNIX files. I can admit that having a dumb down light weight editor (I used it for a scratch pad) can be handy, and I'll turn to Notepad over a proper editor for stupid jotting stuff down (or a cut / paste buffer) is the lack of UNIX file support. The lack of that makes it truely pathetic, even as a dumbed down lighweight app.

Using it as a comparison to vim, even to argue user friendlyness, is just ridiculous!

It also makes me laugh, regarding web development, that I "my website building tool is Notepad". Why? Because it's a true statement metaphorically, as I code pages by hand rather than using a WYSIWYG, but I don't at all actually use Notepad. [smile]

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