Notepad
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Replace that primitive text editor

Notepad hasn't changed since the early days of Windows. It is a simple text editor and nothing more. With a few simple improvements it could be used for writing webpage code, handling several documents at once and so on.

That's where Note Tab Light from http://www.notetab.com/ comes in. Described as the ultimate free Notepad replacement and a handy HTML editor, it can handle a heap of files with a simple tabbed interface. It can also search files, strip HTML tags and format text quickly. You can also build libraries of text macros to speed up your work. Formerly called "Super NoteTab", it is 100% free - no ads and no nags.

Another choice is EditPad Lite from http://www.editpadpro.com/editpadlite.html. This is free for personal, non-commercial use and offers features such as having multiple files open at the same time, changing between them by clicking on a tab. It has unlimited Undo, even after saving - provided you haven't closed the file. If you attempt to open a second instance of EditPad Lite, it will open the file in the existing instance, thereby saving you a lot of task switching. It has block functions, print preview and a reopen menu listing the last 16 files opened. It is also available for Linux.

Yet another choice is metapad. metapad's enhanced feature set includes:

  • 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
  • WYSIWYG printing
  • Snazzy status bar & funky toolbar
  • No file size limit! (under Win9x)
  • Hyperlink support
  • User interface language plugins