EditPad Lite - Professional Notepad

Many people would be surprised by this but one of my favourite applications in Windows is notepad utility - Okay, it´s extremely simple and contains practically no features but that´s exactly why I like it!

When you´re taking a call and need to make a note or are using the computer and want to create a non fancy document such as a to do list for the day Notepad is absolutely perfect. There would rarely be a time that notepad isn´t running on my computer as it saves me jotting notes down on pieces of paper that I would then promptly lost.

Just recently I discovered an application called `EditPad Lite´ which retains the simplicity that I love about notepad but also adds other helpful features that sometimes you just wish Microsoft had incorporated into their application from the start.

For all of you that share the same passion for Windows simplest utility I thought I would spend this week looking at what this free replacement can offer you.

One of the most useful features of EditPad is that it includes tabbed browsing which seems to be all the rage with pretty much every Windows application at the moment. This feature means that you don´t have to have multiple instances of the same program running if you have several files to view but instead you´ll just have EditPad opened once and will flick between the different documents by selecting the appropriate tab.

Other useful features include:
- Unlimited document size. Very many text editors (including notepad) suffer from only being able to open text files of a limited size but EditPad will open any file no matter how large.
- Unlimited `undo´ and `redo´ functions. Whilst notepad has an undo function you can only ever undo just the one step whereas EditPad allows you to `undo´ or `redo´ as many steps as you like.
- In addition to the obvious Windows compatibility EditPad can read and write both UNIX and MAC files in a variety of different coding styles.
- Print Settings and Preview function. These features really were long overdue in the standard Notepad so I´m glad someone has finally addressed this issue.
- System tray icon. I loved this feature as it means whenever you close or minimize EditPad it is extremely easy to reopen just by clicking the icon in the system tray. Of course this functionality can be turned off if required.
- Appearance - The appearance of EditPad can be altered quickly and easy for those who don´t like or find it hard to read the conventional black text on a white background.
- Search and Replace - This is an improvement on the Notepad standard functionality offering options such as case matching, whole or part word matching along with being able to find and replace text across all text documents currently open.

Other features such as block text insert, case conversion, indentation, and a large list of customizable options make this a worthy replacement for Windows Notepad. Additionally the application is completely free to download, small in size and has no advertising present whatsoever.

To download or learn more about EditPad please visit editpadlite.com/editpadlite.html There is also a professional version available from the same website but in all honesty the free `lite´ version should give you all the functionality you require from a text editor.

Computer Articles 2007