8 ms·

I've never understood why they don't license something like notepad++ for $1 a copy, or build their own internal version. The value add creating good default to

I've never understood why they don't license something like notepad++ for $1 a copy, or build their own internal version. The value add creating good default tools instead of paint/notepad/calc/space-cadet is pretty huge.

tytytytytytytyt 8y ago
You didn't like Space Cadet pinball?
asadlionpk 8y ago
They own VSCode too.
- croddin 8y ago
  And Atom
  - bbeonx 8y ago
    Ha! That definitely took me a second...
  - MikusR 8y ago
    The sale has not happened yet.
mixmastamyk 8y ago
It is supposed to be light-weight and simple for users. Of course they used that excuse to let it stagnate so long it didn't support things like Ctrl+S for years.
blibble 8y ago
oh god, their plan might be identical to that for their Windows 10 Solitaire you either pay a monthly subscription or you get ads https://images.techhive.com/images/article/2015/07/windows-10-hidden-solitaire-fees-100598360-large.jpg https://images.techhive.com/images/article/2015/07/windows-1...
- rdudek 8y ago
  Is that the reason why Windows updates keep removing the win7 games from my system?
jpalomaki 8y ago
It's not just the building part. If it ships with Windows, Microsoft needs to support it for a very long time.
- btschaegg 8y ago
  Of course. That's why Windows 10 ships with a voice assistant and ads in the start menu, but no decent text editor. /s
dogma1138 8y ago
Because you can get notepad++ on your own, if you want a fancy text editor from Microsoft just get VSCode.
- NegativeLatency 8y ago
  Or Atom
hiccuphippo 8y ago
They did. It is called vscode.
lozenge 8y ago
Notepad++ UI is really far from what you would expect for a Windows built in application. It would basically need to be rewritten. Then there's the professional translation, etc, etc. I think the ship on built in apps has sailed. Everybody expects to open a web browser or app store to get anything of any use now. Heck, they even stuck ads in Minesweeper. It made more sense when downloading software was slow or you might not even have an internet connection. I'm sure many Mac owners enjoyed playing Chess before going out and buying some software.
- ilovetux 8y ago
  I am excited about this update since I am stuck using notepad a lot on systems at work where I cannot install applications without a change order and getting something like notepad++ approved is basically a non-starter.
  - JetSpiegel 8y ago
    Just use WordPad.
  - megaman22 8y ago
    There's portable versions of Notepad++, that run right out of a folder, if your antivirus isn't especially draconian, anyway.
Theodores 8y ago
Notepad++ has its fans but it falls between two stools. It is a bit overblown for editing your /etc/hosts file and a bit underweight as an IDE. People get stuck using Notepad++ and never give themselves the opportunity to invest that time in a tool that best suits development. This could be a grown up IDE, vi(m) or Wordpress's admin editor. Being lightweight is all well and good if you have a 486/DX33 running Windows 3.11 but most computers have Pentium chips inside them now. One thing that will probably remain just as useless with Windows Notepad 2018 is use case number one - editing your /etc/hosts file. What else is Notepad really for? In the rebooted edition of the classic text editor they will still make /etc/hosts only save if you are an administrator, or 'root' user as it is on more conventional operating systems. This is fine and good for security but it does not let you just type in the 'admin' password after you have opened the file and made your changes. With Vista they got the UAC mostly right but not for Notepad and /etc/hosts. They also hide the /etc/hosts file in some subdirectory that only a young person could possibly remember the file path for. It is not in the conventional place that is expected. c:\wwindows\system32 is as far as I can remember. Then, when you have found the magic folder, it requires a change of the file type in the file dialog window before you can see it, and that is presuming you have file extensions enabled. There is a confusing hosts.isam file in the same folder. Who knows how you explain to your grandma over the phone how to add some IP address to her hosts file so she can see your development site. Really the line endings problem should have been fixed a long time ago, actually with Windows 95 as it was apparent even that far back that users might want to open files created on systems that were not 'Wintel' (as it was known then as everything else used different processors). With Windows 2000 - no winsock.dll needed - they should have made efforts to make /etc/hosts editable that bit more easily. That would have sorted out 90% of real world use of Notepad. Unix philosophy should apply to Notepad - do just one thing - and the Windows Write product should have been where to go for fancy line numbers and such like. That could have made a neat and basic Notepad++ style product with a print view and raw text mode like what early versions of Word had.
- Retric 8y ago
  Notepad++ loads more or less instantly so there is little point to going down the scale. The #1 useful feature is just multiple tabs. Sure, syntax highlighting is also great for reading files and simple edits, but need not be part of windows.
vbezhenar 8y ago
I see zero value with good built-in applications. There are plenty of free applications out there and it's very easy to install them. May be package them and promote via Store for even easier installation experience.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  Plenty of people work in environments where they can't install additional apps. On these machines it would a godsend to have a decent editor built in
  - btschaegg 8y ago
    As soneone who has to deal with systems like that at work all the time, I feel that point can't be hammered home enough. Everytime you read about some sysadmin person that still uses plain old vi because "it's everywhere" or who actually prefers more unreadable syntax in shell scripts because the nice(r) alternative wouldn't be POSIX compliant, it's basically the same effect. Except that on Windows, you're usually screwed, because there's absolutely no useful tool that does the job you want and ships with the OS (as opposed to some no-pixie-dust tool that's been around for decades and has a bit of a steeper learning curve).
  - ThirdFoundation 8y ago
    Tangentially related, but I've had jobs in the past where I had to build all-too-complex systems in VBA because of the needs of the business and having my environment too restricted. I realize this isn't ideal...ever...but sometimes the needs of our department--our immediate needs--didn't align with the time require to navigate the massive corporate and IT bureaucracy.
    - maxxxxx 8y ago
      "but sometimes the needs of our department--our immediate needs--didn't align with the time require to navigate the massive corporate and IT bureaucracy." I battle this every day. Our systems are so locked down for "security" that we in R&D can't do our job without hacking around IT. Thank God they are not very good so there are plenty of loopholes for circumventing the "security" measures.
squarefoot 8y ago
Or this almost unknown gem which I used extensively in my ancient OS/2 days and later under Windows xp. http://www.med-editor.com/indexus.html http://www.med-editor.com/indexus.html

tytytytytytytyt 8y ago

You didn't like Space Cadet pinball?

asadlionpk 8y ago

They own VSCode too.

croddin 8y ago
And Atom
- bbeonx 8y ago
  Ha! That definitely took me a second...
- MikusR 8y ago
  The sale has not happened yet.

mixmastamyk 8y ago

It is supposed to be light-weight and simple for users. Of course they used that excuse to let it stagnate so long it didn't support things like Ctrl+S for years.

blibble 8y ago

oh god, their plan might be identical to that for their Windows 10 Solitaire you either pay a monthly subscription or you get ads https://images.techhive.com/images/article/2015/07/windows-10-hidden-solitaire-fees-100598360-large.jpg https://images.techhive.com/images/article/2015/07/windows-1...

rdudek 8y ago
Is that the reason why Windows updates keep removing the win7 games from my system?

jpalomaki 8y ago

It's not just the building part. If it ships with Windows, Microsoft needs to support it for a very long time.

btschaegg 8y ago
Of course. That's why Windows 10 ships with a voice assistant and ads in the start menu, but no decent text editor. /s

dogma1138 8y ago

Because you can get notepad++ on your own, if you want a fancy text editor from Microsoft just get VSCode.

NegativeLatency 8y ago
Or Atom

hiccuphippo 8y ago

They did. It is called vscode.

lozenge 8y ago

Notepad++ UI is really far from what you would expect for a Windows built in application. It would basically need to be rewritten. Then there's the professional translation, etc, etc. I think the ship on built in apps has sailed. Everybody expects to open a web browser or app store to get anything of any use now. Heck, they even stuck ads in Minesweeper. It made more sense when downloading software was slow or you might not even have an internet connection. I'm sure many Mac owners enjoyed playing Chess before going out and buying some software.

ilovetux 8y ago
I am excited about this update since I am stuck using notepad a lot on systems at work where I cannot install applications without a change order and getting something like notepad++ approved is basically a non-starter.
- JetSpiegel 8y ago
  Just use WordPad.
- megaman22 8y ago
  There's portable versions of Notepad++, that run right out of a folder, if your antivirus isn't especially draconian, anyway.

Theodores 8y ago

Notepad++ has its fans but it falls between two stools. It is a bit overblown for editing your /etc/hosts file and a bit underweight as an IDE. People get stuck using Notepad++ and never give themselves the opportunity to invest that time in a tool that best suits development. This could be a grown up IDE, vi(m) or Wordpress's admin editor. Being lightweight is all well and good if you have a 486/DX33 running Windows 3.11 but most computers have Pentium chips inside them now. One thing that will probably remain just as useless with Windows Notepad 2018 is use case number one - editing your /etc/hosts file. What else is Notepad really for? In the rebooted edition of the classic text editor they will still make /etc/hosts only save if you are an administrator, or 'root' user as it is on more conventional operating systems. This is fine and good for security but it does not let you just type in the 'admin' password after you have opened the file and made your changes. With Vista they got the UAC mostly right but not for Notepad and /etc/hosts. They also hide the /etc/hosts file in some subdirectory that only a young person could possibly remember the file path for. It is not in the conventional place that is expected. c:\wwindows\system32 is as far as I can remember. Then, when you have found the magic folder, it requires a change of the file type in the file dialog window before you can see it, and that is presuming you have file extensions enabled. There is a confusing hosts.isam file in the same folder. Who knows how you explain to your grandma over the phone how to add some IP address to her hosts file so she can see your development site. Really the line endings problem should have been fixed a long time ago, actually with Windows 95 as it was apparent even that far back that users might want to open files created on systems that were not 'Wintel' (as it was known then as everything else used different processors). With Windows 2000 - no winsock.dll needed - they should have made efforts to make /etc/hosts editable that bit more easily. That would have sorted out 90% of real world use of Notepad. Unix philosophy should apply to Notepad - do just one thing - and the Windows Write product should have been where to go for fancy line numbers and such like. That could have made a neat and basic Notepad++ style product with a print view and raw text mode like what early versions of Word had.

Retric 8y ago
Notepad++ loads more or less instantly so there is little point to going down the scale. The #1 useful feature is just multiple tabs. Sure, syntax highlighting is also great for reading files and simple edits, but need not be part of windows.

vbezhenar 8y ago

I see zero value with good built-in applications. There are plenty of free applications out there and it's very easy to install them. May be package them and promote via Store for even easier installation experience.

maxxxxx 8y ago
Plenty of people work in environments where they can't install additional apps. On these machines it would a godsend to have a decent editor built in
- btschaegg 8y ago
  As soneone who has to deal with systems like that at work all the time, I feel that point can't be hammered home enough. Everytime you read about some sysadmin person that still uses plain old vi because "it's everywhere" or who actually prefers more unreadable syntax in shell scripts because the nice(r) alternative wouldn't be POSIX compliant, it's basically the same effect. Except that on Windows, you're usually screwed, because there's absolutely no useful tool that does the job you want and ships with the OS (as opposed to some no-pixie-dust tool that's been around for decades and has a bit of a steeper learning curve).
- ThirdFoundation 8y ago
  Tangentially related, but I've had jobs in the past where I had to build all-too-complex systems in VBA because of the needs of the business and having my environment too restricted. I realize this isn't ideal...ever...but sometimes the needs of our department--our immediate needs--didn't align with the time require to navigate the massive corporate and IT bureaucracy.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    "but sometimes the needs of our department--our immediate needs--didn't align with the time require to navigate the massive corporate and IT bureaucracy." I battle this every day. Our systems are so locked down for "security" that we in R&D can't do our job without hacking around IT. Thank God they are not very good so there are plenty of loopholes for circumventing the "security" measures.

squarefoot 8y ago

Or this almost unknown gem which I used extensively in my ancient OS/2 days and later under Windows xp. http://www.med-editor.com/indexus.html http://www.med-editor.com/indexus.html