ATPad

ATPad

For those still trundling along with NotePad, introduced circa 1991, as their default text editor in Windows, the time may have arrived to move into the 21st century and upgrade that pesky editor to a more feature rich model. Released in late 2008 and revised on several occasions since that time, ATPad v.2.0 by programmer Andrey Gruber, developer of the well-known and widely used PNotes, provides a solid editing environment for the Windows platform.

Perhaps the most important quality of any Windows text editor is its
ability to load instantly. ATPad, even with a number of text files
appearing in its tab bar, starts with gratifying rapidity, giving the
impression of an agile and stable program.

ATPad's most notable characteristic is its tabbed interface. This highly desirable option allows a number of independent and unrelated text files to be open simultaneously yet corralled within a single program and to remain in place when the application and / or the computer is restarted. Its pleasant user interface provides font selection, optional line numbers display with color customization, and a boilerplate text facility under the term "Snippets." In addition, ATPad, despite being a plain text editor, will display clickable URLs in their common and distinctive blue shade, as
well as a similar designation for "mailto:" for email addresses.

Another laudable feature of this lightweight program is its lack of
registry interference. The tiny zip file, at 124kb, unfolds to a user
designated directory where ATPad's settings are conveniently stored in
traditional fashion -- an .ini file located for simplicity's sake in the same folder, making it an eminently suitable program for use on a USB drive.

While ATPad has its limitations, it nevertheless represents a huge step forward from the creaking irascibility of NotePad.

Prowl over to the site for additional notes, screenshots and the download link at http://atpad.sourceforge.net/

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