BBEdit equivalency?

March 16, 2005 9:11 PM

On the Mac, if I need to munge text in extremis, I prefer to use BBEdit. Recently, on the PC, I am finding myself in need of a text editor which is similar to BBEdit. I will use it both for coding and for text-cleaning. I prefer freeware and shareware but that's by no means the deciding factor. Which programs should I check out? Which should I avoid?

For purposes of this query, I am on XP. The majority of this coding is directed toward MS database apps, so MS-SQL and VB would be the most important syntax coloring doohickeys, although PHP, Perl, and HTML would be jim dandy too.

posted by mwhybark to computers & internet (21 comments total)

Notepad++ is your best bet. It's free, it does the syntax coloring you're looking for, and a whole lot more.
posted by pmbuko at 9:24 PM on March 16, 2005

TextPad.
posted by matildaben at 9:24 PM on March 16, 2005

I suggest jedit or HTMLkit.
posted by misterioso at 9:26 PM on March 16, 2005

I like EditPlus.
posted by fleacircus at 9:32 PM on March 16, 2005

Ultraedit is heaven sent!

From the guy who wrote it:

God has opened up so many opportunities with this business, with special versions of the editor for some large companies. His provision has been so much more than we would have dreamed.

posted by nonmyopicdave at 10:25 PM on March 16, 2005

SciTE.
posted by orthogonality at 10:26 PM on March 16, 2005

TextPad!
posted by sad_otter at 10:27 PM on March 16, 2005

UltraEdit has been my editor of choice for years. Good macro support, wonderful search and replace, and great syntax highlighting.
posted by tumble at 11:49 PM on March 16, 2005

More on this from an earlier ask Question. I'm one of the TextPad evangelical horde (I've used it as my editor of choice for about 7 years), but generally I think you're best with either TextPad or UltraEdit.
posted by seanyboy at 12:14 AM on March 17, 2005

Wow, that'll keep me busy for a while. Thanks for all the tips!
posted by mwhybark at 1:08 AM on March 17, 2005

I use Emacs for Windows. As an added bonus it works just like Emacs for UNIX does at work. ;)

I've used UltraEdit before. It was much better than the alternatives I looked at at the time, but I thought it was kind of clunky.
posted by grouse at 1:20 AM on March 17, 2005

TextPad used to be my choice too, but in this day and age its lack of Unicode editing is sad indeed.

Current favourite: EmEditor.
posted by BobInce at 5:25 AM on March 17, 2005

I'll come down for jEdit as well. Although I use TextPad heavily for plain text manipulation, it is commercial/shareware software, and jEdit is not -- it's Free, as well as free.
posted by ChrisR at 6:36 AM on March 17, 2005

I like and use NoteTab Pro. It costs a few bucks. There is a free version with a reduced feature set, but it was still enough to get me hooked.
posted by Tubes at 7:24 AM on March 17, 2005

JEdit seconded. What's so nice about it is the cross-platform availability. If you like it on the PC, you can download it for the Mac or Linux and be right at home again. Folding is the best.
posted by odinsdream at 8:04 AM on March 17, 2005

is there a vi for windows?
posted by jacobsee at 8:08 AM on March 17, 2005

I primarily work on the mac with BBEdit as my text editor also, when I do have to do text editing tasks on my windows machine I use UltraEdit. I haven't used these other editors, some may be better, but I've been satisfied with UltraEdit. It costs around $40 USD.
posted by safetyfork at 8:34 AM on March 17, 2005

i've tried almost all the editors mentioned here and I must say:

sciTE is the shit. I installed it yesterday (thanks to orthogonality). I like this build cause it adds "edit with sciTE" to the right-click menu.

I had to edit Global Options, and html.properties to remove annoying italics and then I loved it forever. its a really nice combination of simple and powerful. A++++
posted by 31d1 at 8:43 AM on March 17, 2005

gVim, no contest =)
posted by kableh at 9:18 AM on March 17, 2005

I'll throw a vote for TextPad as well. Note that though it isn't free it can be licensed per user so you can buy once and install anywhere you need to use it.
posted by Mitheral at 10:57 AM on March 17, 2005

JEdit rocks! For a free editor it has tons of features. It's also pretty extensible, check out some of the plugins available for it.
posted by gigglesticks at 12:54 PM on March 17, 2005