Scan & Fix 100 registry errors freeCNET Editors' review
Bean is a free, compact, easy-to-use text editor that occupies the middle ground between bare-bones apps like TextEdit and more full-featured (and more expensive) word processors.
Bean launches quickly and uses minimal resources, while giving you access to rich features such as live word count, tabbed documents, templates for boilerplate and automatic dates, page layout settings and in-line graphics, dictionary integration, word completion, plenty of import and export options, a search panel that can handle regular expressions, and an Inspector panel for making tweaks to text, format, and spacing.
Bean can't handle some specialized tasks, like footnotes and predefined styles, but this open-source editor gives you a lot of functionality at no cost--in a well-designed, pleasant-to-use interface, including optional split-screen editing and a two-up layout view.
Anyone looking to get a little more out of a free word processor with strong basic features and some extras should give Bean a try.
Publisher's Description
From Bean:
Bean is lean, fast, and uncluttered. If you get depressed at the thought of firing up MS Word or OpenOffice, try Bean.
If you use TextEdit but have to jump through hoops just to get a word count or change the margins, try Bean.
If you desire a simple, beautiful writing environment, try Bean.
Bean is a small, easy-to-use word processor that includes:
- a live word count
- a Get Info panel for in-depth statistics
- a zoom-slider to easily change the view scale
- an Inspector panel with lots of sliders
- date-stamped backups
- autosaving
- a page layout mode
- an alternate colors option (e.g., white text on blue)
- an option to show invisible characters (tabs, returns, spaces)
- selection of text by text style, paragraph style, color, etc.
- a floating windows option (like Stickies has)
- easy to use menus
- remembers cursor postion (excluding .txt, .html, .webarchive formats)
- all of Cocoa's good stuff (dictionary, word completion, etc.)
What's new in this version:
Changes (to accomodate OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard)
- Under Snow Leopard, Bean by default now does automatic text substitution (for example, substituting 'the' for 'teh' or changing (c) to �?�©). Text substitutions are controlled at System Preferences > Language & Text > Text > Symbol and Text Substitution. Substitution can be turned off during an editing session by unchecking Substitutions > Text Replacement in the context menu of the document. There is a hidden preference setting w... See all new features
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All versions:
4.2 starsout of 81 votes
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Current version:
4.8 starsout of 4 votes
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My rating:
Write review
Results 1-4 of 4
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"Great Word replacement"
Version: Bean 2.4.2
Pros
none I can think of.
Cons
none I can think of.
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"Quick and simple"
Version: Bean 2.4.2
Pros
Even on my old G5, it is ready to type in about 5 seconds. It has a clean interface, and yet includes regex search and replace.
Cons
If I have to have a con it is the icon. It just doesn't say "simple word processor". It says, "Late night homework".
Summary
This is what a basic word processor should be. Nothing more, nothing less. Features remind me of Word for Mac 5.1, and the interface is very much like Write Now. It is not up to writing books or doing the layout of a magazine, but it does not claim to be any more than a utility word processor. More is not better. Enough is better. You can't beat the price.
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"It does what I want from a word processor."
Version: Bean 2.4.2
Pros
It's fast and versatile and keeps getting better with updates.
Cons
Others might not like the way it handles graphics.
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"Great simple text editor with enough formatting options"
Version: Bean 2.4.2
Pros
Excellent user interface, very clear and easy to use. Word count continually visible and automatically counts selected text. Open source and free!
Cons
None that I can think of.
Results 1-4 of 4
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