6 ms·

It boggles my mind that Microsoft and other companies with a similar reach don't spend more time on core features and tools. Minor improvements such as in this

It boggles my mind that Microsoft and other companies with a similar reach don't spend more time on core features and tools. Minor improvements such as in this case can improve the productivity of 100s of millions of users. For the next improvement, hopefully, Microsoft is paying attention to the Ars Technica comments: save unsaved entries to a temp file when the OS reboots. A recent files list would also be an improvement.

nitwit005 8y ago
I'm afraid that notepad is one of those applications that has gotten updates, but no one notices: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20180521-00/?p=98795 https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20180521-00/?p=... . Similar issue when they revamped the internals of calculator.
rzzzt 8y ago
Another comment mentions the lack of support for ctrl+backspace (which prints U+007F in the application instead of deleting an entire word). https://superuser.com/questions/33142/ctrlbackspace-inserts-a-small-box-instead-of-erasing/636973 https://superuser.com/questions/33142/ctrlbackspace-inserts-...
- uryga 8y ago
  this also happens when renaming files in Explorer. i wonder if they're related EDIT (i read the article): > [Notepad] was, by design, little more than a very thin wrapper around a Windows multiline text-editing control. maybe that's why?
mtgx 8y ago
> save unsaved entries to a temp file when the OS reboots. What Microsoft's executives likely took from that: "Save unsaved entries to a Microsoft account document. Got it!" > A recent files list would also be an improvement. "Track users' OS usage behavior and serve ads based on that. Nailed it! What's next? We're on a roll here."
veridies 8y ago
Odd that they don’t; that’s been a feature on macOS’ TextEdit for as long as I can remember, and I have to imagine Microsoft is watching macOS for inspiration (and vice versa).
josho 8y ago
> Minor improvements such as in this case can improve the productivity Unfortunately when your sales come from hardware vendors and you have a monopoly those improvements have zero ROI and that's why minor improvements haven't happened until now when Apple has eroded their mind & marketshare. Note, Apple's business model of selling direct to consumer means these small productivity improvements are noticed by the purchaser, which is why we often see minor improvements on their platform and not MS.
orev 8y ago
A big issue when you’re the platform is not competing with the developers who write apps for said platform. If MS included a lot of great apps as stock, it would impact a lot of vendors. Just look at how much the anti-virus vendors complained about Windows Defender and the removal of APIs those tools used.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  So here's a question: why shouldn't a platform just be a platform?
  - toyg 8y ago
    Because consumers don’t care what a platform is, they want a usable computing device. People are thoroughly frustrated by having to hunt for programs to do stuff that, to them, is an obvious necessity that should have been easy to do from the very start. System utilities like notepad are a compromise between “giving users what they want” and “not burning too many bridges or attracting antitrust lawsuits”.
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
      > Because consumers don’t care what a platform is Just once I'd like to have a discussion where someone doesn't drag out the strawman "average user" bullshit.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        Every platform vendor who knows what they are doing has a certain set of priorities and they are: 1. The company 2. The customer . . . . . 3. Third party developers
        toyg 8y ago
        You forgot "the government", which is really #3. Developers usually sit somewhere between "astronauts" and "things that from distance look like flies".

nitwit005 8y ago

I'm afraid that notepad is one of those applications that has gotten updates, but no one notices: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20180521-00/?p=98795 https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20180521-00/?p=... . Similar issue when they revamped the internals of calculator.

rzzzt 8y ago

Another comment mentions the lack of support for ctrl+backspace (which prints U+007F in the application instead of deleting an entire word). https://superuser.com/questions/33142/ctrlbackspace-inserts-a-small-box-instead-of-erasing/636973 https://superuser.com/questions/33142/ctrlbackspace-inserts-...

uryga 8y ago
this also happens when renaming files in Explorer. i wonder if they're related EDIT (i read the article): > [Notepad] was, by design, little more than a very thin wrapper around a Windows multiline text-editing control. maybe that's why?

mtgx 8y ago

> save unsaved entries to a temp file when the OS reboots. What Microsoft's executives likely took from that: "Save unsaved entries to a Microsoft account document. Got it!" > A recent files list would also be an improvement. "Track users' OS usage behavior and serve ads based on that. Nailed it! What's next? We're on a roll here."

veridies 8y ago

Odd that they don’t; that’s been a feature on macOS’ TextEdit for as long as I can remember, and I have to imagine Microsoft is watching macOS for inspiration (and vice versa).

josho 8y ago

> Minor improvements such as in this case can improve the productivity Unfortunately when your sales come from hardware vendors and you have a monopoly those improvements have zero ROI and that's why minor improvements haven't happened until now when Apple has eroded their mind & marketshare. Note, Apple's business model of selling direct to consumer means these small productivity improvements are noticed by the purchaser, which is why we often see minor improvements on their platform and not MS.

orev 8y ago

A big issue when you’re the platform is not competing with the developers who write apps for said platform. If MS included a lot of great apps as stock, it would impact a lot of vendors. Just look at how much the anti-virus vendors complained about Windows Defender and the removal of APIs those tools used.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
So here's a question: why shouldn't a platform just be a platform?
- toyg 8y ago
  Because consumers don’t care what a platform is, they want a usable computing device. People are thoroughly frustrated by having to hunt for programs to do stuff that, to them, is an obvious necessity that should have been easy to do from the very start. System utilities like notepad are a compromise between “giving users what they want” and “not burning too many bridges or attracting antitrust lawsuits”.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
    > Because consumers don’t care what a platform is Just once I'd like to have a discussion where someone doesn't drag out the strawman "average user" bullshit.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      Every platform vendor who knows what they are doing has a certain set of priorities and they are: 1. The company 2. The customer . . . . . 3. Third party developers
      - toyg 8y ago
        You forgot "the government", which is really #3. Developers usually sit somewhere between "astronauts" and "things that from distance look like flies".