Markdown provides a convenient way to add formatting to a plain text document, while leaving it in plain text. It’s simpler and faster than adding HTML markup, and doesn’t have the lock-in of using something like Microsoft Word.
The syntax was created by John Gruber way back in 2004, and seems to become more widely used every year, especially in blogs and forums. It’s an easy and efficient way to create online content, and has a number of benefits for writers and bloggers.
A plain text editor works too. Your favorite editor will do, whether it’s Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code, or Vim. Check out our favorite plaintext editors for Mac The Best Mac Text Editors to Use in 2018 The Best Mac Text Editors to Use in 2018 Need a new text editor for your Mac? A text editor allows a developer to open, edit, and view a file, initially in a plain-text state. This may seem similar to a basic word processor, but text editors do not include many of the extraneous features included in word processors.
Because Markdown is just plain text, you can create it with any text editor. That’s part of its appeal. But using an editor designed for writing in Markdown has a lot of advantages, depending on your needs.
Here are some features you might expect to find in a Markdown editor:
- Syntax highlighting and a preview pane to show you how your final document will look.
- Familiar keyboard shortcuts, like command-B for bold.
- Export and conversion features that easily transform your document from Markdown to HTML, PDF, DOCX or a number of other formats. Some Markdown editors can publish directly to WordPress, Medium and more.
- A distraction-free mode that takes advantage of features like full-screen editing, dark mode and typewriter mode.
- Features that appeal to writers, including word count, readability scores, and versions.
- A document library to organize your content and sync between devices. Some editors have an iOS version so you can keep working while you’re on the move.
- Advanced formatting, including tables and mathematical expressions.
There’s a rich landscape of Mac options, and the best choice for me may not be the best choice for you. Not all Markdown editors will support all of those features, so the trick is to find the editor with the features you need.
So let’s have a good look at the options, then we’ll make some recommendations.
Looking for more on Markdown? Check out these great links:
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1. Use Your Favorite Text Editor
If you already have a favorite Mac text editor, you might prefer to use that for writing Markdown as well. Of course, Markdown is really just text, so any text editor will do. But many text editors have additional support for Markdown, either natively or through an extension or plugin. These may give syntax highlighting, a preview pane and other features.
Here are some examples:
- BBEdit 11 has a Markdown Extension Package that includes helper commands, transformation commands, paste as Markdown and MultiMarkdown support.
- Sublime Text 2 can be turned into a full-featured Markdown editor. We show you how here.
- TextMate 2 has a Markdown bundle that includes features like convert, preview, cheat sheet and “generate output and open in browser”.
- Chocolat provides Markdown syntax highlighting and preview out of the box.
- Atom supports Markdown out of the box, with features like syntax highlighting and preview. This functionality can be expanded by several community-generated packages, including Markdown-Writer, Markdown-Scroll-Sync and Markdown-Format.
- Brackets has a Markdown extension with syntax highlighting and a preview pane.
- Textastic includes Markdown syntax highlighting and preview out of the box.
- MacVim has a Vim-Markdown plugin that features syntax highlighting and folding.
- GNU Emacs has a Markdown Mode for Emacs package that includes shortcut keys and syntax highlighting.
2. Ulysses
- Cost: Starts at US$4.99 per month or $39.99 per year, or subscribe via SetApp
- Demo: Yes
- Other platforms: iOS
The ultimate writing app for Mac, iPad and iPhone.
Ulysses is a full-featured Markdown app designed for writers. It’s designed to keep you focused on the writing task at hand, organize all your projects in one place, provide comprehensive writing features in a simple interface, and export your documents beautifully in a number of formats.
Distraction-free features include typewriter mode, dark themes, and full-screen editing. All of your documents can be accessed in a single library, whether they’re contained in Ulysses’ database or in files elsewhere. Filters can be used to create smart folders that update according to the flexible criteria you specify.
Writers will appreciate features like word and character count, writing goals that indicate when you reach the desired word count, notes and attachments for your reference information, and keywords. You can export your documents to a variety of text and rich text formats, HTML, ePub, PDF and DOCX. Or you can publish directly to WordPress or Medium.
My take: I purchased Ulysses on the day it was released, and I’ve been using it ever since. It has become my writing tool of choice. It’s not cheap, but it’s been worth every penny. If you do a lot of writing, professionally or otherwise, take a good look at this app.
3. Quiver
- Cost: $9.99
- Demo: Yes
- Other platforms: iOS (coming)
The programmer’s notebook
Quiver is designed for developers, and can combine text, code, Markdown and LaTeX in a single note. It’s more than just a document editor: it’s a complete reference library for your documentation.
The editor gives you syntax highlighting and a live preview of your rendered Markdown, and offers cloud syncing, team collaboration, version control and backup. Programmers will appreciate code editing and the ability to write scripts to integrate Quiver with your other tools.
The document library can organize your notes by tag or notebook (including shared notebooks), and has instant, full-text search. Images are saved locally with notes, and displayed inline.
My take: Quiver is the ultimate Markdown (and code and LaTeX) editor for devs. Its document library can be synced to your other computers and devices via Dropbox. It’s a geekier alternative to Ulysses, designed with a completely different audience in mind, at an affordable price point.
4. LightPaper
- Cost: $16.49
- Demo: 14-day free trial
- Other platforms: No
Simple, beautiful yet powerful text editor for your Mac
LightPaper is designed for creating documents, articles and blog posts. It’s suitable for writers and bloggers, developers, scholars and students.
This tab-based app features both syntax highlighting and a preview pane. A document pane on the left lists your favorites, folders, scratch notes and shadow notes.
The shadow note feature is very handy: the app will associate a note with a specific app, file, folder or URL, which is entered in a popup window over the other app.
Other features include quick open, math and table support, custom styles, and distraction-free mode.
My take: This is a Ulysses alternative without quite the same range of features. It does some things that Ulysses can’t, including tables and math. While not as expensive, it’s certainly not cheap. If its range of features matches what you need in a Markdown editor, it’s worth considering.
5. MWeb
- Cost: $14.99
- Demo: 14-day trial
- Other platforms: iOS
Pro Markdown writing, note taking and static blog generator app
MWeb is a tab-based Markdown editor for writers and academics. It has a document library, but can also edit external files from anywhere on your Mac. Its clean interface supports advanced syntax, including TOC, tables, code blocks, LaTeX and footnotes.
The app features syntax highlighting, live preview, and drag and drop for adding images. It also includes some nice distraction-free features, including typewriter mode and a dark theme.
Getting your text out of MWeb is easy. It can export to PDF, HTML, RTF, DOCX and image, or publish directly to WordPress, Metaweblog, Blogger, Medium, Tumblr and Evernote. It can even generate a static blog.
My take: With its advanced syntax and export/publishing options, MWeb is excellent for writing technical documentation. The app is attractive, and the document library well designed.
6. Texts
- Cost: $19
- Demo: Yes
- Other platforms: Windows
Rich editor for plain text. Separate content from formatting. Store in Markdown.
Texts is a Markdown-based word processor designed for academics. It focuses on producing well-structured content that can contain formulas, footnotes, bibliography and citations, tables and links. You can create export templates to carefully hone the professionally typeset PDFs the app can produce.
Other features include a visual editor so you don’t have to remember Markdown, blogging on GitHub Pages, and custom themes. Documents can be published as PDF, HTML, DOCX, EPUB and other formats.
My take: If you’re an academic or technical writer, this app is designed for you. Its minimalistic interface is attractive, yet hides a lot of power under the surface. The documents it produces look professional, and are beautifully typeset.
7. Byword
- Cost: $11.99
- Demo: No
- Other platforms: iOS
Markdown app for writing in plain text efficiently.
Byword is a minimalistic app for efficient Markdown writing, striking a good balance between simplicity and functionality. There are just enough features to do the job without becoming a distraction.
The app has subtle syntax highlighting, and you can format with Markdown using keyboard shortcuts and auto-complete. There’s a word count with live update, and a quick preview option.
My take: Byword’s low cost, attractive looks and frictionless interface make it a popular choice. If you’re not in need of a lot of features, and simplicity aids your productivity, this might be the one for you.
8. IA Writer
- Cost: $9.99
- Demo: No
- Other platforms: iOS, Android
iA Writer. How to curve text in word 2016 for mac. Plain. Text. iA Writer is designed to provide the best writing experience on macOS, iOS and Android.
IA Writer is a distraction-free Markdown editor that puts the focus on your content. It’s like Byword, but with a few more features and a little less simplicity.
The app uses a light gray background, monospaced font and blue cursor. In focus mode, surrounding lines of text fade to emphasize the line you’re typing.
Images, tables and content blocks are all supported, all features that Byword lacks. Other features include preview, live sync, a document library, file export (HTML, PDF, DOCX) and custom templates.
My take: Another popular, inexpensive Markdown editor with an emphasis on being distraction free, IA Writer loses some of Byword’s simplicity in order to gain some additional features.
9. Typora
- Cost: Free (during beta)
- Demo: n/a
- Other platforms: Windows, Linux
A truly minimal Markdown editor
Typora is possibly the most minimalistic editor we’re covering. It even removes the Markdown syntax as you type, replacing it with a preview of the formatting. What you see is what you get. It looks cleaner, removes the need for a preview pane, and makes reading easier.
Despite its simplicity, Typora supports images, lists, tables, code fences, math blocks, table of contents and more. Shortcuts do what you expect, and the themes are beautiful and fully configurable by CSS. Geeks will find a lot to love here.
My take: Typora is the new kid on the block. Undo background color in text box word for mac 2012. It’s beautiful and full-featured. If you like the idea of not seeing Markdown syntax in your document, this app is your only option we review.
10. Caret
- Cost: $25
- Demo: Yes
- Other platforms: Windows, Linux
Beautiful & clever Markdown editor
Caret is beautiful and distraction-free, but hides lots of power under the hood. It would appeal to writers and devs alike.
The app makes entering complex Markdown simple. Syntax assistance is available for tables, lists, quotes, fences, links and emphasis, and there’s auto-completion for images, keywords and emoji. A file manager is available, and navigation through long documents is made simple with the popup “go to heading” feature.
For the mathematically-minded, LaTeX expressions are supported, and they’re rendered on-screen as soon as the cursor leaves them. For distraction-free writing, dark mode, focus mode and typewriter mode are all supported.
My take: I’ve only recently discovered Caret, and for a minimalistic editor it seems to have a lot of power under the hood. Writing, rather than exporting, is its strength. SitePoint editor Bruno Skvorc is a heavy user of the app, and couldn’t be happier.
11. Focused
- Cost: $29.99
- Demo: Yes
- Other platforms: No
Get Focused, start writing!
Focused is an attractive, minimalistic writing app with an interface designed to keep you writing without distraction.
The app offers an uncluttered interface with few features, a choice of attractive themes, typewriter mode and a choice of eight relaxing soundtracks. Other features include word count, versions, export to HTML and RTF, and customizable typefaces and styles.
My take: If you’re looking for a beautiful, minimalistic app to write in, and value a focused writing experience over a multitude of features, this is worth considering.
12. Bear
- Cost: Free, Bear Pro subscription $1.49/month
- Demo: n/a
- Other platforms: iOS
Bear is a beautiful, flexible writing app for crafting notes and prose
Bear is more than a note taking app: it’s a pleasing writing environment as well. The developers have focused on making the app beautiful to look at and smooth to use. By default it uses non-standard markup, but a Markdown compatibility mode is available.
The app includes a focus mode to keep you writing, and displays images inline. Features for writers include word count and reading times. The app can export your document to Markdown, PDF, HTML, DOCX, JPG or RTF. For developers, the app has code blocks that support and highlight over 20 programming languages.
Other features include rich previews, cross-note links, checkboxes, and smart data recognition. Tags are added by using hashtags within the document. Bear Pro subscribers have access to a range of themes and multi-device sync via iCloud.
My take: I discovered Bear while it was still in beta, and started using it immediately. I’m now a Bear Pro subscriber. I love the checkbox feature, the way images are displayed inline, and the way tags are added. These features make it an excellent note taker. I could use the app for writing, but Ulysses has become my tool of choice.
13. Mou
- Cost: Free (in beta), preorder Mou 1.0 for $15 (50% discount)
- Demo: n/a
- Other platforms: No
Markdown editor for developers.
Mou bylines itself as “the missing Markdown editor for web developers”. It’s light and responsive. Be aware that until Mou 1.0 ships, the app only works on versions of macOS up to 10.11; it doesn’t (at the time of writing) support Sierra or High Sierra.
Features include live preview, sync scroll, auto save, incremental search and custom themes. CSS, HTML and PDF export are available. Articles can be directly published to Scriptogr.am or Tumblr with a single command.
My take: The app has always looked promising, and I used it for a while a number of years ago. Lack of support for Sierra is a problem, but watch out for Mou 1.0.
Free Text Editor For Mac
14. MacDown
- Cost: free (open source)
- Demo: n/a
- Other platforms: No
The open source Markdown editor for macOS.
MacDown is heavily inspired by Mou, and was created when Mou development had stalled. Like Mou, it’s designed with web developers in mind.
Features include a configurable syntax highlighting, live preview, TeX-like math syntax, and auto-completion.
My take: MacDown is a good alternative to Mou, and having an open source (MIT) license, will remain free. If you’re a web developer looking for a lean, fast, configurable editor, this might be the one for you.
15. Haroopad
Cost: Donationware
Demo: n/a
Other platforms: Windows, Linux
Demo: n/a
Other platforms: Windows, Linux
The Markdown enabled Next Document Processor
Haroopad is designed for creating web-friendly documents with Markdown. Use it to create professional-looking documents for your blogposts, slides, presentations, reports and email.
The app has some advanced features, including support for LaTeX mathematical expressions, Vim key-bindings and embedding of audio and video. Themes and skins are available, and you can export your document to HTML and PDF, with more formats in the works.
![Standard plain text editor for macos Standard plain text editor for macos](/uploads/1/3/3/9/133947684/267738744.png)
My take: Haroopad is still in beta, and the English documentation is still a little lacking. But the app is flexible and has a ton of features, as well as supporting the major desktop operating systems. And the price is right.
So, What Is the Best Mac Editor for You?
The Mac Markdown ecosystem is rich and varied. With so many apps, which is the right one for you? That depends on your priorities, and what you’ll be using the app for.
Here are some recommendations:
- If the tool of your trade is a text editor, and you already have a favorite, you can probably use it as an adequate Markdown editor too.
- If you’re a writer or blogger looking for a full-featured writing environment, then have a serious look at Ulysses. If you find the price a problem, you can use it for less than $10 a month by subscribing to SetApp. Or have a look at MWeb, LightPaper and Bear.
- If you’re a developer, Quiver is the ultimate notebook for you. Simpler options include Mou and MacDown.
- If you’re an academic, Texts may be your best option, but also have a look at MWeb.
- If your preference is for an inexpensive, light-weight app, ByWord and IA Writer are excellent options. If distraction-free features are important, also consider Typora, Caret and Focused.
- If you don’t spend all of your time on a Mac so need something cross-platform, then check the features of Texts, Typora, Caret and Haroopad, and choose the one that best meets your needs.
What’s your favorite Markdown editor?
The following is a list of notable text editors.
- 3Text user interface
- 3.2Others
- 5ASCII and ANSI art
- 6Historical
Graphical and text user interface[edit]
The following editors can either be used with a graphical user interface or a text user interface.
Name | Description | Free software |
---|---|---|
Aquamacs Emacs | A distribution of GNU Emacs heavily modified to behave like a Mac program. | Yes |
Cream | A configuration of Vim. | Yes |
Elvis | A vi/ex clone with additional commands and features. | Yes |
Extensible Versatile Editor (EVE) | Default under OpenVMS. | ? |
GNU Emacs/XEmacs | Two long-existing forks of the popular Emacs programmer's editor. Emacs and vi are the dominant text editors on Unix-likeoperating systems, and have inspired the editor wars. | Yes |
Language-Sensitive Editor (LSE) | Programmer's Editor for OpenVMS implemented using TPU. | Yes |
Textadept | A modular, cross-platform editor written in C and Lua, using Scintilla.[1] | Yes |
vile (vi like Emacs) | A vi work-alike which retains the vi command-set while adding new features: multiple windows and buffers, infinite undo, colorization, scriptable expansion capabilities, etc. | Yes |
vim | A clone based on the ideas of the vi editor and designed for use both from a command line interface and in a graphical user interface. | Yes |
Graphical user interface[edit]
Name | Description | License |
---|---|---|
Acme | A User Interface for Programmers by Rob Pike. | Free software |
AkelPad | Еditor for plain text. It is designed to be a small and fast. Many plugins. | Free software |
Alphatk | Proprietary | |
Arachnophilia | Free software | |
Atom | A modular, general-purpose editor built using HTML, CSS and JavaScript on top of Chromium and Node.js. | Free software |
BBEdit | Proprietary | |
BBEdit Lite | Freeware | |
Bluefish | A web development editor. | Free software |
Brackets | A modular, web-oriented editor built using HTML, CSS and JavaScript on top of the Chromium Embedded Framework. | Free software |
CodeWright | Proprietary | |
Crimson Editor | Freeware | |
CudaText | Written in Object Pascal on Lazarus (IDE), thus cross platform native GUI. | Free software |
CygnusEd (CED) | Proprietary | |
E Text Editor | Default under IBMOS/2 versions 2-4[citation needed]. | Proprietary |
Eddie | An editor originally made for BeOS and later ported to Linux and macOS. | Freeware |
EditPlus | An editor with syntax highlighting and FTP. | Proprietary |
EmEditor | Proprietary | |
Epsilon | Proprietary | |
FeatherPad | A lightweight editor based upon Qt . | Free software |
Geany | A fast and lightweight editor / IDE, uses GTK+. | Free software |
gedit | Default under GNOME.[2] | Free software |
GoldED (text editor of Cubic IDE) | Proprietary | |
GWD Text Editor | Proprietary | |
HTML Kit | Freeware | |
HxD for huge text files. | Freeware | |
iA Writer | Proprietary | |
jEdit | A free cross-platform programmer's editor written in Java, GPL licensed. | Free software |
JOVE | Jonathan's Own Version of Emacs | Free software |
JuffEd | A lightweight text editor written in Qt4. | Free software |
Kate | A basic text editor for the KDE desktop. | Free software |
Kedit | An editor with commands and Rexx macros similar to IBM XEDIT. | Proprietary |
Kile | A user friendly TeX/LaTeX editor. | Free software |
Komodo Edit | Free software | |
KWrite | A default editor on KDE. | Free software |
Lapis | An experimental text editor allowing multiple simultaneous edits of text in a multiple selection from a few examples provided by the user. | Free software |
Leafpad | Default under LXDE.[3] and Xfce[citation needed] | Free software |
LEd – LaTeX Editor | Freeware | |
Leo | A text editor that features outlines with clones as its central tool of organization and navigation. | Free software |
Light Table | A text editor and IDE with real-time, inline expression evaluation. Intended mainly for dynamic languages such as Clojure, Python and JavaScript, and for web development. | Free software |
mcedit | A text editor provided with Midnight Commander. | Free software |
Metapad | Windows Notepad replacement, GPL licensed. | Free software |
MicroEMACS | Free software | |
Mousepad | Previously the default under Xfce.[4] | Free software |
Multi-Edit | Proprietary | |
NEdit – 'Nirvana Editor' | Free software | |
Notepad | Default under Microsoft Windows. | Proprietary |
Notepad2 | Free software | |
Notepad++ | A tabbed text editor. | Free software |
NoteTab | Proprietary | |
NoteTab Light | Freeware | |
Pe | A text editor for BeOS. | Free software |
Peppermint | An editor with a CoffeeScript/JavaScript API. | Proprietary |
pluma | The default text editor of the MATE desktop environment for Linux. | Free software |
PolyEdit | Proprietary | |
Programmer's File Editor (PFE) | Freeware | |
PSPad | An editor for Microsoft Windows with various programming environments. | Freeware |
Q10 | A full screen text editor (Windows). | Freeware |
RJ TextEd | Freeware | |
RText | Free software | |
Sam | Free software | |
SciTE | Free software | |
SimpleText | Default under Classic Mac OS from version 7.5.[5] | Proprietary |
SlickEdit | Proprietary | |
Smultron | A macOS text editor. | Proprietary |
Source Insight | Proprietary | |
SubEthaEdit (formerly called Hydra) | Proprietary | |
Sublime Text | Proprietary | |
TeachText | Default under Classic Mac OS versions prior to 7.5.[6] | Proprietary |
TED Notepad | Freeware | |
Tex-Edit Plus | Proprietary | |
TextPad and Wildedit | Proprietary | |
TeXnicCenter | Free software | |
TeXShop | TeX/LaTeX editor and previewer. | Free software |
TextEdit | Default under macOS,[7]NeXTSTEP[citation needed], and GNUstep.[citation needed] | Free software |
TextMate | Free software | |
TextWrangler | Mac-only editor by Bare Bones Software, sunsetted. Final version released 09/20/2016[8], replaced by free tier of [BBEdit][9]. | Freeware |
The Hessling Editor | Free software | |
The SemWare Editor (TSE) (formerly called QEdit). | Proprietary | |
TopStyle | Proprietary | |
UltraEdit | Text and source code editor with syntax highlighting, code folding, FTP etc. Handles multi-gigabyte files. | Proprietary |
Ulysses | Proprietary | |
VEDIT | Proprietary | |
Visual Studio Code | An extensible code editor with support for development operations like debugging, task running and version control. | Free software |
WinEdt | Proprietary | |
X11 Xedit | Free software | |
XEDIT | Default under VM/CMS. | Proprietary |
Yudit | Free software |
Text user interface[edit]
System default[edit]
Command | Description | License |
---|---|---|
E | is the text editor in PC DOS 6, PC DOS 7 and PC DOS 2000. | Proprietary |
ed | The default line editor on Unix since the birth of Unix. Either ed or a compatible editor is available on all systems labeled as Unix (not by default on every one). | Free software |
ED | The default editor on CP/M, MP/M, Concurrent CP/M, CP/M-86, MP/M-86, Concurrent CP/M-86. | Free software |
EDIT | The default on MS-DOS 5.0 and higher and is included with all 32-bit versions of Windows that do not rely on a separate copy of DOS. Up to including MS-DOS 6.22, it only supported files up to 64 KB. | Proprietary |
EDIT | The text editor in DR DOS 6.0, Novell DOS 7, OpenDOS 7.01, DR-DOS 7.02 and higher. Supports large files for as long as swap space is available. Version 7 and higher optionally supports a pseudo-graphics user interface named NewUI. | Proprietary |
EDIX | The text editor in Concurrent DOS, Concurrent DOS XM, Concurrent PC DOS, Concurrent DOS 386, FlexOS 286, FlexOS 386, 4680 OS, 4690 OS, S5-DOS/MT. | Proprietary |
EDITOR | The text editor in DR DOS 3.31 through DR DOS 5.0, and the predecessor of EDIT. | Proprietary |
EDLIN | A command-line based line editor introduced with 86-DOS, and the default on MS-DOS prior to version 5 and is also available on MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows NT. | Proprietary |
ee | Stands for Easy Editor, is part of the base system of FreeBSD, along with vi.[10] | Free software |
nvi | (Installed as vi by default in BSD operating systems and some Linux distributions) – A free replacement for the original vi which maintains compatibility while adding some new features. | Free software |
vi | The default for Unix systems and must be included in all POSIX compliant systems[11] – One of the earliest screen-based editors, it is based on ex. | Free software |
Others[edit]
Plain Text Editor For Mac
Command | Description | License |
---|---|---|
ECCE | ECCE (The Edinburgh Compatible Context Editor) is a text editor designed by Dr Hamish Dewar at Edinburgh University. | Free software |
Emacs | A screen-based editor with an embedded computer language, Emacs Lisp. Early versions were implemented in TECO, see below. | Free software |
JED | Multi-mode, multi-window editor with drop-down menus, folding, ctags support, undo, UTF-8, key-macros, autosave, etc. Multi-emulation; default is emacs. Programmable in S-Lang. | Free software |
JOE | A modern screen-based editor with a sort of enhanced-WordStar style to the interface, but can also emulate Pico. | Free software |
LE | Free software | |
mcedit | Full featured terminal text editor for Unix-like systems. | Free software |
mg | Small and light, uses GNU/Emacs keybindings. Installed by default on OpenBSD. | Free software |
MinEd | Text editor with user-friendly interface, mouse and menu control, and extensive Unicode and CJK support; for Unix/Linux and Windows/DOS. | Free software |
Nano | A clone of Pico GPL licensed. | Free software |
ne | A minimal, modern replacement for vi. | Free software |
Pico | Free software | |
SETEDIT | A clone of the editor of Borland's Turbo* IDEs. | Free software |
The SemWare Editor | (TSE for DOS) (formerly called QEdit) | Proprietary |
Zile | Free software |
vi clones[edit]
busybox vi | A small vi clone with a minimum of commands and features. | Free software |
Elvis | The first vi clone and the default vi in Minix. | Free software |
nvi | A new implementation and currently the standard vi in BSD distributions. | Free software |
STEVIE | STEVIE (ST Editor for VI Enthusiasts) for the Atari ST, the starting point for vim and xvi | Free software |
vile | Derived from an early version of Microemacs in an attempt to bring the Emacs multi-window/multi-buffer editing paradigm to vi users. First published 1991 with infinite undo, UTF-8 compatibility, multi-window/multi-buffer operation, a macro expansion language, syntax highlighting, file read and write hooks, and more. | Free software |
vim | An extended version of the vi editor, with many additional features designed to be helpful in editing program source code. | Free software |
No user interface (editor libraries/toolkits)[edit]
Name | Description | License |
---|---|---|
Cocoa text system | Supports text components of macOS. | Proprietary |
Scintilla (editing component) | Used as the core of several text editors. | Free software |
Text Processing Utility (TPU) | Language and runtime package, developed by DEC, used to implement the Language-Sensitive Editor and Extensible Versatile Editor, Eve. | Proprietary |
ASCII and ANSI art[edit]
Editors that are specifically designed for the creation of ASCII and ANSI text art.
- ACiDDraw – designed for editing ASCII text art. Supports ANSI color (ANSI X3.64)
- JavE – ASCII editor, portable to any platform running a Java GUI
- PabloDraw – ANSI/ASCII editor allowing multiple users to edit via TCP/IP network connections
- TheDraw – ANSI/ASCII text editor for DOS and PCBoard file format support
ASCII font editors[edit]
- FIGlet – for creating ASCII art text
- TheDraw – ANSI/ASCII text editor with built-in editor and manager of ASCII fonts
Historical[edit]
Visual and full-screen editors[edit]
- Brief – a programmer's editor for DOS and OS/2
- Edit application – a programmer's editor for Classic Mac OS
- EDIT – a menu-based editor introduced to supersede EDLIN in MS-DOS version 5.0 and up and available in most Microsoft Windows
- EDT – a character-based editor used on DECPDP-11s and VAXen
- O26 – written for the operator console of the CDC 6000 series machines in the mid-1960s
- Red – a VAX/VMS editor, written in Forth variant STOIC
- se – an early screen-based editor for Unix
- SED – cross-platform editor from the 1980s, ran on TOPS-10, TOPS-20 and VMS
- STET (the 'STructured Editing Tool') – may have been the first folding editor; its first version was written in 1977
- TECO – one of the most advanced character-based editors, which included a programming language. While usually described as a line editor, it included screen editing capabilities at least as early as 1965.
Line editors[edit]
- Colossal Typewriter – an early editor thought to be written for the PDP-1
- ed:
- Unix's early line editor
- CP/M's line editor
- EDLIN – a line editor delivered with MS-DOS
- EDT (Univac) – a line editor for Unisys VS/9 and e Fujitsu BS2000 systems
- ex – an EXtended version of Unix's ed, later evolved into the visual editor vi
- fred – sed-like line editor used on the CDC 7600 at Los Alamos
- GEDIT (aka George 3 EDITor) – a TECO-like editor including a programming language for the GEC 4000 series computers. GEDIT was originally written by David Toll of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and then adopted by GEC Computers for OS4000.
- sed – a non-interactive programmable stream editor available in Unix
- TECO – one of the most advanced character-based editors, which included a programming language
- TEDIT – GEC 4000 series editor based on the Cambridge Titan EDIT
See also[edit]
- Outliner, a specialized type of word processor
Text Edit For Mac
Notes[edit]
- ^'Textadept'. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
- ^'Apps/Gedit - GNOME Wiki!'. projects.gnome.org. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ^'Leafpad'Archived 2008-10-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^Xfce#Leafpad
- ^http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/0307163ASYS75UPG.pdf
- ^'System 2.0 (4.1/5.5) 800K Disk Contents (9/93)'. support.apple.com. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ^'Mac Basics: TextEdit'. apple.com. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ^Charles Moore (6 March 2017). 'So Long Textwrangler, Hello BBEdit'. macprices.net. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- ^'TextWrangler'. barebones.com. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- ^'3.10. Text Editors'. www.freebsd.org. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ^'vi'. pubs.opengroup.org. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
Text Editor In Mac
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