Quest for the best text editor
Recently I started looking for what is by my own definition the best text editor around. The original post which explains the categories I’m thinking in can be found here. All the separate tests that I have done up to now are collected in the best text editor category on this blog.
This is the summary/overview of all the numeric points results of the tests. In this table it’s easier to see which editor has its strengths in which specific areas.
| Editor | General features | System integration | Syntax highlighting | Exten sibility |  |
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| UltraEdit-32 | 80 | 70 | 70 | 30 | 70 | 70 | 75 | 80 | 30 | 80 | 70 | 50 | 80 | 60 | 70 | 40 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 60 | 0 | 60 | 70 | 70 | 1325 | 55 |
| TextPad | 80 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 60 | 30 | 30 | 70 | 40 | 65 | 70 | 50 | 80 | 70 | 70 | 40 | 70 | 0 | 20 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 70 | 1220 | 51 |
| EditPlus | 80 | 50 | 70 | 80 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 30 | 65 | 40 | 50 | 80 | 80 | 65 | 50 | 75 | 0 | 20 | 50 | 0 | 65 | 70 | 70 | 1180 | 49 |
[…] I have now started to make a tabular overview of the tested text editors available. You can find it here and I will keep it updated with new results as I continue to test. […]
Pingback by Oliver Sturm’s weblog - Tabular overview of tested text editors available — 18/7/2005 @ 7:59 pm - 3 years ago
Oliver,
You may also wish to look at jedit. It’s a java-baeed editor with lots of plugins and config options available.
It’s a bit tiresome to configure initally and it has a slow startup, but I have found it very useful.
Comment by Scott — 5/11/2005 @ 5:14 pm - 2 years, 8 months ago
Why don’t you try Editpad Pro ?
Comment by Wim — 30/12/2005 @ 9:28 am - 2 years, 6 months ago
But I thought you already knew it was Emacs.
Comment by tim — 17/5/2006 @ 1:09 pm - 2 years, 2 months ago
Well well… there were times when I thought it was Emacs, but apparently my priorities have changed a bit. Then again, since I haven’t had time to do any more tests in this category for a pretty long time, I have started using Notepad 2 almost exclusively, and although that one doesn’t satisfy a lot of the requirements I listed here, I find it to be sufficient in surprisingly many cases.
Comment by Oliver Sturm — 17/5/2006 @ 1:15 pm - 2 years, 2 months ago
UltraEdit is the best editor that I’ve ever used, but I use a Windows version of Emacs too — mainly when I need to browse directories (dired mode) — it’s excellent for that. You can hit v to see a file (or open a subdirectory), then q to go back to the directory, etc. very quickly. Gotta be careful you don’t try to open a 10 GB file, though…
Comment by Don — 15/6/2006 @ 9:26 pm - 2 years, 1 month ago
Did u find a version which will enable you to rotate the LCD display and work A4 pages big?
Comment by decpdp — 2/1/2007 @ 8:39 pm - 1 year, 6 months ago
Try Twistpad. It covers all the features. It is fast, powerfull and customizable, and it is very user friendly.
Comment by Joel Paula — 27/8/2007 @ 5:59 pm - 11 months ago