Notepad++ 6.6.6 "Friday the 13th Edition"

Notepad++ is a great source code editor, but it also performs great as a Windows Notepad replacement. The application supports several programming languages and file-types, including C, C#, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, SQL, and others. Even though Notepad++ detects the code language automatically, you might sometimes need to specify it manually. This can be done by using the "Language" main menu. The code highlighting is done depending on the language you choose.

After installing the program, I recommend you take some time to configure it. You can set it to remember the last opened files, to create automatic backups of all the files you save, or you can specify text printing preferences. It's also possible to set the colors which are used for code highlighting and the program's shortcut keys.

With just a few clicks, you can convert the encoding (ANSI, UTF8, UCS2) and format (MAC, Linux, Windows) of text documents. The "View" menu allows you to configure Notepad++ to show line ending characters, to show white-spaces, and even to show all the characters that normally wouldn't be shown in Windows Notepad. Notepad++ has a built-in HEX-editor, which you can use for editing binary files.

Among other things, the application supports block comments, function completion, TAB removal, and bookmarks. One of the most useful features is the macro recorder. It allows you to record key-presses and then play them back later. I used this feature for removing each second row from a text file and it worked flawlessly.

Pluses: Notepad++ has lots of great features and built-in tools. It also supports external plugins which can perform several text editing tasks. The ones I use the most are the XHTML, XML, and brace auto close, the text to HEX converter, the C++ code re-indent, the trailing space trimmer, FTP support and the case converter. If you have a little coding experience, you can write your own plugins because a SDK is available from the publisher.

Drawbacks / flaws:

In conclusion: As you can see, Notepad++ is much more than a simple text editor. Its features make it my favorite editor. Considering that the program is absolutely free, I invite you to try it yourself.