Notepad++ Code Editor Comes to Mac After 20-Year Wait [Updated]

[vindasal]

Never thought I’d see the day. I’m not inherently opposed to using AI in cases like this, as long as the end product is good. If it’s helpful for an individual or small team to get their software rolled out to platforms that would otherwise stretch their efforts thin, then so be it. More so a matter of whether it’s been checked for errors or bugs instead of just shoved out the door, which time will tell us.

Otherwise it is a great piece of software, I’ve had it installed on probably near 100 different OSes or PCs going back to Windows 2000/XP days.

 

[JMalone]

There is no software engineer in the world who is not using AI with vibe coding. Or if they are not, they will be left behind.

False and extremely dumb LinkedIn style toxic statement, probably from someone who created nothing. You are confusing speed for quality. You are confusing cloneware for original software.

The best software that has ever been written was written by hand and there is zero evidence that using AI models has increases quality or originality. It has contributed to a lot of bad apps hurting the app stores though.

When experienced or dedicated developers use AI models to assist them they do not call it ‘vibe coding’. That term relates specifically to people who ‘vibe’ with a chat bot, improvising as they go alone with no fully fleshed out or designed idea.

You cannot “vibe” high quality software. Even with the use of AI good quality software takes months of research, design, development and testing. The coding part is the least hard part.

 

[xARx2]

[snip]
I really like CotEditor which feels right at home to use in MacOS.
[/snip]

after switching back to macOS, finding CotEditor was a godsend. and since then, hearing about NotePad++’s supply chain attack vulnerability, i’ve never been happier to not use that program anymore. NP++ used to fill a niche, but there’s better software out there, especially in Mac land!

 

[JMalone]

That UI is atrocious.

Directly porting a very old style crammed UI from Windows to the Mac has always been clunky since the days of Cheetah. It was easier to do between Windows and Classic Mac OS, but ever since Cheetah if you port to the Mac you have to design for the Mac. Even Microsoft understood this a long time ago.

 

[longofest]

YES!!!

 

[Troff]

I wonder how many people here don’t use BBEdit. Why?

From my experience, and not to App shame anyone, it feels like this is filling a need felt by people who switched from Windows to Mac and never really were aware of the app ecosystem we had going on here in parallel to Wintel since the 80s. They don't know BBEdit because it was never on their radar before.

I would tell (have told) anyone who yearns for NPP (which I've installed on Windows plenty of times myself) to give BBEdit a try. It is amazing and has been around since the olden days.

 

[johannnn]

So like BBedit but worse?

 

[krzyzanowskim]

oh no! there is already one Notepad.exe on Mac!

 

[Wx_Man]

Notepad++ UI--

Now…now. Let’s go easy on the guy. When you’re in the Windows world you’re thinking is influenced by Windows frameworks and HIGs. It’s not really his fault. Just like in Linux where every DE has their own HIG that hardly anyone follows because all Linux devs think that THEY know best and “FREEDUMB”. I can say this as a user of Linux for the last 20 years.

 

[Wx_Man]

I wonder how many people here don’t use BBEdit. Why?

Because in the 21st Century there is no need to pay for a text editor. Hell, in the 21st Century you don’t even need a text editor to refactor your text editor. Just AI. That’s why we’re even reading this article about Notepad ++ for MacOS.

 

[Makosuke]

Huh.

Notepad++ is my standard text editor at work on Windows, but BBEdit is so good that I have never once wished it had a Mac version, and have no particular interest in installing it now that it does.

Still, people are picky about their text editors, and Notepad++ isn't a bad one, so more choice is always good.

 

[NeXTCube]

It's an interesting choice on the part of the person who develops Notepad++ - I used it in the past on Windows, but had moved over to VS Code many years ago so that I had an editor that behaved mostly the same across platforms (since I use Windows/Mac/Ubuntu pretty much on a daily basis). VS Code now has lots of nice integrations with other tools like OpenCode if you're into that sort of thing, too.

 

[Wx_Man]

No match for vi.

I’ve used vi since jumping to Linux 20 years ago. Yes, Notepad++ is no match for vi if you download a dozen or so plug-ins for vi.

 

[Wx_Man]

TBH VS Code is the daddy now IMO.

A fat bloated abusive daddy.

 

[Wx_Man]

I'm not using AI...

Maybe not but shortly in the future you will and have no choice in the matter. Besides…AI is using YOU right now. You are the ultimate data supplier for all LLMs on the planet and have been for years.

 

[JosephAW]

Will give it a try, been using Text Wrangler and BB Edit for years. Before that Texas editor. 🤔

 

[p96]

Vim anyone....

I laughed, but I also use it regularly. Notepad++ is good for systems without vi(m) or BBedit.

Still, it's cool that Notepad++ users now have the app on one more platform.

 

[UliBaer]

...and you'll gonna love it!!

Really, it's the only editor I use permanently on Windows and I looove it! 😎

[edit]
Remember: Software is like sex, it's better when it's free!

 

[applegeek2024]

Finally comes to mac when we no longer need to code.. nice..

 

[maxoakland]

Awesome! Never expected this to happen. I love that it’s a native app, not some electron mess

 

[ArrayDecay]

Will they update the Mac version every five days as well? /s

BBedit FTW!

 

[maxoakland]

I am surprised no one has mentioned Panic! NOVA.

Panic - Nova

Great mac editor! BBEdit is also fantastic, I missed N++ when switching to mac years ago, but there are enough great alternatives that it faded quickly.

I’m surprised I’m the only one using SubEthaEdit. Not sure how I found it but it’s really good

 

[Makosuke]

Besides…AI is using YOU right now. You are the ultimate data supplier for all LLMs on the planet and have been for years.

For those of us who have spent decades helping people out in forums like this, this statement is painfully true (and just painful when you "ask the AI" and get an answer admittedly cobbled together from pre-AI era forum posts, but does not actually do what you asked for).

It became clear very early on that the primary input stream for LLM training was the vast repository of people asking questions in online discussions and random strangers spending time to help them with answers. We have always expected nothing in return, but it certainly never occurred to me at least that my assistance would one day be taken and used for the foundation of a trillion-dollar slop factory.

 

[nt5672]

I see the point coming for users coming from Windows, but the experience I've had being a Mac users mostly, but occasionally using Windows is that it is terrible compared to BBEdit. BBEdit is one of the few Apps that I have paid for for decades. It is still the best. If I could make the Postgres language server work with bbedit, then I could also drop Visual Studio Code. Now, that would be nice.

TextEdit, what is that again?

 

[nt5672]

*cough* Emacs *cough*

Well, yes, now that we have AI I guess trying to figure out all of those arcane key combinations will be a lot easier.