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Notepad is a survivor. Built into Windows for ages, it's still doing yeoman service as a fast, lightweight, easy-to-use text editor. Notepad2 from Flo's Freeware is a Scintilla-based text editor with syntax highlighting. It's called Notepad2 because it follows the original Notepad's principles. It's compact and lightweight: The entire program folder is about 766KB. This makes it fast: Notepad2 loads quickly. But Notepad2 does a whole lot more than Notepad. Despite their many similarities, there really is no comparison: Notepad2 is a far more capable tool than Notepad for any text document. But for those who code, Notepad2 has much to offer, starting with syntax highlighting but with many more improvements over Notepad, including encoding options, advanced searching and editing tools, selectable (and customizable) syntax schemes (including a second default scheme), and much more.
Notepad2 is portable, but the program's Web site has instructions for replacing Notepad in Windows, and the text file included with the download has version info, keyboard shortcuts, regular expression syntax, command line switches, and other documentation. While Notepad2 does indeed feel quick like Notepad (and even has a very similar taskbar icon) the resemblance ends where the business begins, which in Notepad2's case is the toolbar and expanded file menu. The best way to compare Notepad and Notepad 2 is side by side, with the same text -- in this case, some HTML from a browser page's source code we copied and pasted into each. Only in Notepad2, we clicked Syntax Scheme and selected Web Source Code from a menu with more schemes than a Boris Karloff thriller, with all applicable schemes active. Notepad2 highlighted our code in color. Notepad2 offers lots more options for displaying and editing text. The File Menu's Encoding submenu includes ANSI, Unicode, and UTF-8 options. Clicking More accessed many more international encoding options, including ISO, DOS, Mac, and even IBM EBCDIC in multiple languages.
While Notepad has served long and well in Windows, it's obvious that Notepad2 is simply in another category altogether. Whether you use it beside Notepad or instead of it, Notepad 2 is by far the more capable text editor.
Publisher's Description
From Flo's Freeware:
The original Notepad shipped with Windows is probably the handiest program of all times: small, fast, and without frills. Notepad2 tries to follow this principle - it's a small, fast, and free text editor with syntax highlighting for HTML and other common languages.
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All versions:
3.8 starsout of 34 votes
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Current version:
3.4 starsout of 9 votes
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My rating:
Write review
Results 1-9 of 9
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"Powerful text editor works in Win 7, 64 bit"
Version: Notepad2 4.2.25
Pros
Good text editor with lots of options and syntax highlighting depending on file extension (.txt, .html, .c, etc). I especially like that it can highlight white space(blanks) with dots. Useful to catch syntax errors.
Cons
none that I've found.
Summary
Ignore the idiots who say it doesn't work in Win 7,64 bit. Go to flo's (the author's) download page and select the 64 bit version.
cNET should really include links to both the 32 and 64 bit versions! -
"No Win 7 64bit support"
Version: Notepad2 4.2.25
Pros
None that I can see as it does not load!
Cons
Does not load under Windows 7 64 bit.
What a shame -
"Loser program"
Version: Notepad2 4.2.25
Pros
None - well at least it's free
Cons
Only runs on a 32bit system!
Summary
Does not work with 64bit Win 7 - why not?
Updated on May 1, 2013 -
"Detected as a Trojan!"
Version: Notepad2 4.2.25
Pros
Works great!
Cons
Anti-virus deletes it as a Trojan.
Summary
Switched to Notepad++ which does not trigger anti-virus.
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"Really excellent"
Version: Notepad2 4.2.25
Pros
Notepad2 does anything you could want from a simple text editor. It's highly customizable and "just works". Read the CNET staff review for more!
Cons
The find/replace "regular expression" syntax is non-standard and doesn't always seem to do what it should, but for most purposes it is fine.
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"It has a lot of functions"
Version: Notepad2 4.2.25
Pros
Similarly to CesarUSA Text Editor BS2 it has a good set of functions not normally available in MS Word. It is a good replacement for the Windows Notepad.
Cons
The program is free and runs fast. It has uncluttered interface. For some reason I had barely used it. I think it is because I set EdidPad2 as my default plain text editor and use MS Word and CesarUSA Text Editor BS2 as my main word processors.
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"Simply Awesome!"
Version: Notepad2 4.2.25
Pros
1. Great txt editor
2. Comes with syntax highlighting for HTML, CSS, PHP, .sh, .ksh, and many other standard programming languages.
3. Sooo much better than the original Notepad from MS Windows.
4. If you have ever used vi editor on a *Nix box, you will think your in heaven with this editor!Cons
None that I know of...
Summary
Great, simple, light-weight product! Get it! NOW!!!! :)
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"Brilliantly Simple"
Version: Notepad2 4.2.25
Pros
- Quick startup.
- Good range of options and features.
- Replaces the default Notepad application.Cons
None that I can think of.
Summary
Notepad2 will make you wonder how you ever managed to use the original Notepad in the first place.
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"Good, Simple, Best Free text editor ever."
Version: Notepad2 4.2.25
Pros
Easy to use, Good design
Cons
Difficult to install
Results 1-9 of 9
