zerbey,

Only thing I used it for was when older versions of Notepad couldn’t handle larger text files. Now it can. So, no loss to me. Notepad going away would suck, that does at least get occasional use although Notepad++ is far superior.

Cavemanfreak,

Notepad++ can’t handle as big files for some reason. At work we have files that can reach 5-600 MB, and NP++ can’t always open those, but notepad handles then with no problem.

grayman,

Klogg. I always avoid Microsoft when possible.

Cavemanfreak,

Would if I could, but work is pretty strict with what we can use.

grayman,

It’s a portable app and runs in use space. So no install. I’m in the same boat with work. Open source apps are great for just running an app.

Cavemanfreak,

Then it will depend on if we are allowed to download it at all. Can’t be sure about that.

adchevrier,

I had the same problem but noticed that I was using the 32 bit version of notepad++, installed the 64 bits instead and had no problems with large files

Cavemanfreak,

That might actually be something to bring up with IT…

Ghoelian,

Tbf npp has much more functionality than regular notepad.

Just the syntax highlighting alone probably dramatically lowers the amount of text it can render.

Cavemanfreak,

Yep, I prefer it when it works. Highlighting plus line numbers helps a ton.

evilgiraffe666,

There’s a npp plugin called Big Files, I haven’t used it but it might be worth a look.

igorlogius,
@igorlogius@lemmy.world avatar
Cavemanfreak,

Can’t use plugins unfortunately…

IDeserveToBeLoved, (edited )

With bigger files or searching in files where there’s a lot of data I found sublimetext to be much more efficient (than n++)

Cavemanfreak,

I use sublime at home, but work is pretty strict with what we can use.

Valmond,

Just upload it in the cloud and use Microsoft online word!

\s

Cavemanfreak,

Hahahahaha, hahahaha.

Hahahahaha

TWeaK,

I’ve opened 4GB files with notepad++ before. Sure, it takes several minutes (I basically have to go away and do something else, or leave it loading in the background) but it gets there, eventually.

Cavemanfreak,

NP++ straight up tells us it’s too big to be opened…

Irkam,
@Irkam@jlai.lu avatar

Use Vim.

Malfeasant,

That sounds backwards… I occasionally have to open log files of 1 gig or more, and notepad++ gets sluggish, but is usable, while notepad just hangs until I kill it…

Cavemanfreak,

Someone suggested that we might have the 32-bit version, and that that might be the problem. I have no way of checking for a few months though, since I’m on parental leave until January. Because our NP++ just says that the files are too big to be opened. Sidenote: Sometimes it can open files that are a bit bigger, and sometimes only a bit smaller… So it’s not a hard limit that is the same at all times.

9point6,

Genuinely curious—why would someone choose to use notepad++ over something like VSCode in 2023?

I can’t say I’ve used n++ in over a decade when I switched to sublime around 2010, moved again to VSCode about 5 years ago

UlrikHD,
@UlrikHD@programming.dev avatar

VSCode uses electron so it’s not exactly a lightweight text editor, way overkill if you just want to read a simple .txt. Add on the fact if you got way too many extension, it will be even heavier.

nekusoul,
@nekusoul@lemmy.nekusoul.de avatar

That’s true, although from my experience is VSCode one of the very few electron apps that still start within fractions of a second, even with a handful of extensions. On my machine VSCode (with 38 extensions) is ready to use before the GNOME launch animation has finished.

That said, things are probably a bit different on machines with limited RAM.

AustralianSimon,
@AustralianSimon@lemmy.world avatar

NP++ is more lightweight and has some useful stuff builtin and easier to justify to IT dept to than a full IDE 🤷

Personally I prefer pycharm and Atom for my home needs.

9point6, (edited )

Justifying it to IT makes a lot of sense actually. Particularly if you need extensions. I’m lucky I get admin on my laptop where I work

Interesting you’re using atom, actually! Is it still getting much love? I assumed development would go by the wayside once Microsoft bought GitHub a few years ago (as VSCode is almost an identical product)

AustralianSimon, (edited )
@AustralianSimon@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah it’s on my personal machine, I use it alongside pycharm but it’s (atom) not my main IDE, I keep it because of a few things it does. I disagree vscode is the same, it’s a poorer implementation of pycharm IMHO. Just my opinion though everyone is different in workspace.

9point6,

I’m interested in what differs from atom about VSCode in your opinion. Wasn’t VSCode a fork of atom originally? edit: apparently not! When I was picking between the two about 5 years ago, they seemed almost identical to me

I’m personally not a big fan of heavy IDEs like the jetbrains products, so VSCode being lighter than pycharm (or any of the IDEA products) is a bonus to me.

AustralianSimon,
@AustralianSimon@lemmy.world avatar

Look at Atom community. Speed to load is night and day.

For me, Vscode feels like a cheaper pycharm which is my primary IDE and wouldn’t change as I’ve tried vscode as an alt and it wasn’t good enough for how I work.

9point6,

Fair play, everyone’s different, I work with another guy who swears by the jetbrains stuff, but it just seems very clunky to me every time I’ve tried it.

I’ll have to give atom another look then, though I’d say VSCode starts in about a second on my machine, so startup time alone probably wouldn’t be a reason for me to switch

thecrotch,

N++ can search for a string in a directory full of files, that’s what I use it for. Also helpful for showing unprintable characters like linefeeds or changing bit order mode, I’m not sure vs code can do any of that.

For writing code, though, I do use vs code

9point6,

IIRC you can do both of those with VSCode, I think even without any extensions too!

The search sidebar has include and exclude fields for directories to search in.

For showing unprintable characters, I think it’s split into two settings: one for whitespace one for control characters like null and bell

thecrotch,

I wasn’t aware of that, I’ll have to check it out. Thank you.

phoenixz,

Install Linux, use whatever the hell you like

marmo7ade,

No, because I am using what I like.

phoenixz,

Then don’t complain about the ads, do t block the ads. Don’t complain about the tracking, the monitoring, and don’t complain about it.

ballogh,

Looks like you are the one who complains

Dkarma,

That’s not complaining. That’s explaining.

phoenixz,

About Microsoft? A company that actively works to make things worse for everyone, as long as they make more money?

Of course I do.

AceSLive,

That’s like saying “Driving cars is a pain? Then fly an aeroplane! - You won’t do it because you’re comfortable in the car and know how it works? Well, don’t complain about the cost of fuel and the road-speed limits and animals on the roads”

phoenixz,

I’m not sure I follow…

AceSLive,

My app isn’t showing me the message of mine you responded to - but I think it’s something I said about using a plane instead of a car?

I guess what I was getting at was that to me, I’ve tried Linux… a few different options of Linux… each time I’ve gone back to windows as it’s familiar and is something I know how to use inside and out…

It’d be like if I were to learn to fly a plane (Linux)… sure, I’d be able to go further and have more fun than driving a car - but it’s so complicated, and I’m comfortable in my car (windows).

Someone (You? My app isn’t showing me context) said something about losing the right to complain about windows ads and changes if they wouldn’t move to linux… I felt that to be unfair. We should be able to use windows if we want. It shouldn’t be expected to get worse. They should be listening to their user base… Sure, the complaints fall on deaf ears, but ‘victim blaming’ the users of windows for complaining and not wanting to use linux felt shitty…

BigNote,

Obviously not referring to you.

WhataburgerSr,

Except Adobe 😞

RELIABLY

phoenixz,

Photoshop, agreed.

For what we have VirtualBox and run it as a separate desktop.

Also, fuck Adobe

SocialMediaRefugee,

They can pull vi from my cold, dead hands

phoenixz,

Oh hells yeah! Vi for life, vi is life!

First,

Why do I need to install Linux in order to install a WYSIWYG word document editor of my choice?

phoenixz,

Because I continuously read about shit that Microsoft pulls. Just install Linux and do whatever the hell you want with your computer l

Deftdrummer,

If they remove sticky notes I’m going to lose my shit.

Morcyphr,

Funny story, I have a coworker who wanted a second monitor for her office PC. Now her second monitor is covered with sticky post it notes.

floppydisk,
@floppydisk@sh.itjust.works avatar

physical or digital post-its?

uberkalden,

Yes

Morcyphr,

Physical.

Declan_Smartwood,

In that case, they better.

ameliawilliams,

Not a huge problem for me: (1) Never really used wordpad. (2) Used WordPerfect from 1999-2003 (3) Used Open Office and Libre Office since 2003 (4) I use Linux now

elshanerino,

eh, there’s plenty of tools out there like notepad++, atom, obsidian, etc.

Molecular0079,

Wordpad is WYSIWIG, the alternatives you mentioned are more for replacing Notepad.

But yeah, why use WordPad when LibreOffice exists?

DadVolante,
@DadVolante@sh.itjust.works avatar

WordPad is wonderful for opening notepad documents written by modders who don’t understand how to make paragraphs

Aux,

And none of them are doing what WordPad is doing.

Squids,

Or if you’re using for purely notes, OneNote is like, right there. In your system tray. For free.

xhieron,
@xhieron@lemmy.world avatar

This is very upsetting to me–more as a point of principle than in fact–but I appreciate that it doesn’t bother younger generations at all. I just had a small argument with my 11 year old about how not-a-big-deal-who-cares this is, and it basically ended with us agreeing to disagree since it’ll be his problem and his kids’ problem.

And the problem is normalizing the notion that an OS doesn’t need to include a non-subscription word processor. The entire point of this move is to shift the OS Overton Window in favor of consumers accepting and expecting that features like word processors, spreadsheets, etc., should be installed separately and paid for on a subscription basis despite previous iterations of the same software being feature complete on install and purchased at a set, non-recurring fee.

WordPad hasn’t been anybody’s first choice for a word processor in years, but it was included with Windows and did the bare minimum for unsophisticated users. Now we’re entering an era in which those users will as a matter of course buy off-the-shelf computers that come pre-installed without WordPad, but rather with a trial of Office Fuck-You-Pay-Me Edition. Those users may well discover that after their first six months with their new computer (that has made Microsoft more money selling their data than they paid for it), they suddenly get a pop-up informing them that their trial is up and MS wants $99.99 to release the documents they’re holding hostage.

It’s a step backwards for consumers in general, so even for the sophisticated of us who are least likely to be personally affected by this change, there’s definitely cause for alarm.

danielton,

Yeah, even Apple includes the iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) for free on Macs and iPads, no subscription needed.

anon_water,
@anon_water@lemmy.ml avatar

As it should be. We pay for it on Windows and Mac…

Aatube,
@Aatube@kbin.social avatar

piracy theme intensifies
Office is one of the easiest things to pirate. It 1. is very popular 2. has an official mass-activation way that can be easily exploited. I suspect we may have a spy in there
Or, y'know, just use LibreOffice with the tabs setting and contextual groups if you can afford experimental features
or if you still hate the UI just use WPS instead, who cares that it's awful and from China you don't have to pay

Also, why would you even get Word or PowerPoint on macOS?? Excel I understand but these two??

TrustingZebra,

why would you even get Word or PowerPoint on macOS?? Excel I understand but these two??

Main reason would be full compatibility with Office documents.

danielton,

Also, why would you even get Word or PowerPoint on macOS?? Excel I understand but these two??

Because Word and Powerpoint are what they know.

anon_water,
@anon_water@lemmy.ml avatar

Let me clarify what I meant. I am saying that we pay for the OS which includes applications on both Mac and Windows. Only Mac gives us a free suite of office applications.

Aatube,
@Aatube@kbin.social avatar

Ah, I get it now.
But you can pirate Windows for the exact same reasons.

anon_water,
@anon_water@lemmy.ml avatar

True

johnthedoe,

The cost of the full Mac apps and OS is in the cost of the hardware. At least it’s one upfront cost. Surely the way windows is going can’t be popular or sustainable.

lolcatnip,

I’d like to normalize the notion that an OS shouldn’t include any application software except for a browser you can use to install other things. Let people pick what they want to use and install it themselves.

orbitz,

Wasn’t there an anti trust or monopoly suite against Microsoft for bundled IE back in the day? Funny how times change, though I agree it’s not easy to get a preferred browser without one. Mean it never was overly simple but they were on so many CDs mailed out back then. Think it has to do with some IE and Windows integration too so not just cause they bundled it.

Nougat,

The problem with IE4 is that it was designed in such a way that it was deeply integrated into the operating system, such that it could not be uninstalled.

It's completely reasonable now to ship an operating system without a browser, as long as there's some kind of "app store" or "package manager" through which a user can install whatever browser they want (provided it's available through said store, of course).

sik0fewl,

Yeah, just download LibreOffice or use a free service like Google Docs.

w2tpmf,

You can even use Microsoft Word for free online.

The whole argument that “a subscription service becomes necessary” is nonsense.

Aatube,
@Aatube@kbin.social avatar

or just WPS if you hate these and don't hate China more than Microsoft

ares35,
@ares35@kbin.social avatar
programmer_belch,
@programmer_belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Better yet, the OS should just include a desktop environment with simple utilities and a package manager to install the applications you want. It will make users less likely to run into malware while searching for the programs in the web

NightAuthor,

It shouldn’t include a desktop environment, I want to be able to install my own.

Neve8028,

I mean you can. Most people who interact with computers aren’t that knowledgeable and just want their OS to have usable defaults which is fine.

programmer_belch,
@programmer_belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I was talking more in the lines of taking away most of the windows bloat. If someone wants to install their own desktop environment they will most likely go down the linux path.

lolcatnip,

We’re talking about Windows here, where the desktop environment is too thoroughly intertwined with the rest of the OS to ever remove it. The kind of terminal emulator environment that Linux boots into doesn’t even exist in versions of Windows that have been sold after the early 2000s.

schnurrito,

I think a file manager, text editor and command prompt are pretty essential too. And when you’ve added those, where exactly is the limit where it becomes “application software”?

lolcatnip,

I don’t have an answer for that, but I know Wordpad is definitely not essential and I doubt anyone would use it if it didn’t come with Windows

GamingChairModel,

I think it’s worth separating the two related but distinct concepts of what is a part of the operating system itself (for example, the actual file manager) and what is pre-installed or bundled with the operating system (games like Minesweeper).

I agree with you that a rich text editor definitely shouldn’t be part of the OS. But should it be a bundled part that ships with the desktop environment, the way Windows/MacOS/Android/iOS/ChromeOS all come with photo library software, basic image editors, media players, browser, email client, etc.? These applications aren’t strictly necessary to use or maintain the system itself, so maybe they shouldn’t have some kind of privileged use of the OS’s functionality, but there’s no harm in bundling in the installation defaults.

I don’t think a rich text editor is an important enough function to necessarily be preinstalled with the OS, but I can see an argument, at least. There’s a reason why Windows shipped with one since the beginning, and why MacOS and KDE and Gnome each have a default that very few people actually use regularly.

Appoxo,
@Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Tbh I use Notepad way more than anything for note making.
If it needs to be formatted, OneNote is free to use and can be saved in any cloud (if there is a shortcut like OneDrive or Dropbox in the Windows explorer)
If it needs to be free and not very sophisticated, I’d look around for a markdown based editor.

If all of that fails, I will use Word.
Never used Wordpad in 15 years (of 24 years of existence) except while trying to open word but Windows suggesting Wordpad first.

roguetrick,

I only use emacs to write TeX notes.

ares35,
@ares35@kbin.social avatar

i use wordpad a lot for viewing docs (loads faster, uncluttered ui). occasionally writing them... and more than once instead of notepad for a text file (on a system without a notepad alternative available) because i needed more features.

i have a few clients that use wordpad as their 'word processor', lack of spelling check be damned.

microsoft must have run out of excuses for specifically not including one in it, seeing how recent windows has spell check baked-in to the os itself. so instead of losing a few dozen sales of office home and student or 365 by making wordpad just a little bit better for those who use it, they're gonna be the assholes and take it out completely and push everyone to the damn cloud app or a 365 sub. fk 'em.

Appoxo,
@Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

It has it’s uses. Not for me but some are definitely need it. Problem is, how much effort is it to keep it around vs how much is it used realistically.

Best way forward would be to replace it with a completely different app like Word online but as an actual app lile Word Lite or something like that.

cloaker,

Advertise and push Foss substitutes like libreoffice.

vikingtons,
@vikingtons@lemmy.world avatar

could go a step further and bin windows altogether.

granted, it’s a big step for most.

mihnt,
@mihnt@kbin.social avatar

Be part of the 3%! Join today!

cloaker,

Love Linux, love windows. 'ate mac, simple as.

WhiskyTangoFoxtrot,
BananaTrifleViolin,

I get where you're coming from but I think you're overstating the impact in this day and age. If this had been 1995 it'd be a big deal. Now it's rediculously easy to install any alternative you like for free.

Libre Office is an entire free fully features office suite.

I'm less bothered about removing WordPad than I am about Microsoft advertising and pre-installing it's products in Windows - they force Edge on people, they push OneDrive and preinstall a preview of Office. That's the real problem - not losing WordPad.

At one point Anti-Trust / Anti-monopoly regulators globally punished Microsoft for pushing Internet Explorer to consumers and for a long time in Europe had to offer a choice of Browsers to download on new Windows installs. Now it's allowed to get away with abusing it's dominant position to force it's products on consumers.

Agent641,

Does liber office make .docx files and export to pdf?

nul9o9,

Yes.

Psythik,

It wouldn’t be as good as everyone says if it didn’t.

agent_flounder,
@agent_flounder@lemmy.one avatar

Yup

Agent641,

Nice 👍

tool,

Does liber office make .docx files and export to pdf?

It does. It’s fine as a replacement for Word, but no one has an answer for Excel. LibreOffice Calc is fine for a basic spreadsheet, but Excel is in a completely different universe than Calc with anything beyond that.

To be fair though, Excel is in a completely different universe than literally any other competing product.

localme,

Do you know how both of those compare with Google Sheets?

elscallr,
@elscallr@lemmy.world avatar

Sheets is capable enough for the average person but a business is always going to want to use Excel because it’s the industry standard.

I can’t remember the last time I actually needed a spreadsheet for anything other than looking at a bunch of tabular data, but I’m a programmer so I’m not the standard spreadsheet user.

localme,

Gotcha, that makes sense. Thanks for your reply!

PalmTreeIsBestTree,

If you are an accountant, then it’s your beast of burden.

DogMuffins,

Accountant here. I prefer libreoffice calc.

TheBat,
@TheBat@lemmy.world avatar

I’m a programmer so I’m not the standard spreadsheet user.

But then what do you use for database???

elscallr,
@elscallr@lemmy.world avatar

JSON files that get committed to a git repo, obviously. They’re in a private repository in GitHub so that takes care of security and resiliency, two birds with one stone.

KIM_JONG_JUICEBOX,
@KIM_JONG_JUICEBOX@lemmy.ml avatar

At first I was certain this was going to be sarcasm.

KIM_JONG_JUICEBOX,
@KIM_JONG_JUICEBOX@lemmy.ml avatar

But then what do you use for database???

Probably a database.

ebits21,
@ebits21@lemmy.ca avatar

Lol exactly

bemenaker,

Nothing compares to excel. There are spreadsheets, and there is excel. The world runs on excel, and for a damn good reason. Also, excel runs the world, literally.

Corran1138,

So you’re telling me that Excel is very good at stuff?

ebits21,
@ebits21@lemmy.ca avatar

I think calc is fine for a lot of use cases. I use it all the time. It is different though.

For advanced stuff I’d rather use Python anyway to be honest.

fartsparkles,

Excel has built-in Python support now. I wish I was joking.

ebits21,
@ebits21@lemmy.ca avatar

Yes… processed on the cloud. Lol.

msage,

Just use SQL. Even SQLite.

schnurrito,

Yes, and recent versions of MS Word can also read odt, so no need for docx just to work with Word users.

talos,
@talos@lemmy.world avatar

I built a new PC two months ago and it’s the first time I didn’t get Office. Libre Office has everything I need and it’s free.

boogetyboo,
@boogetyboo@aussie.zone avatar

I’ve wondered about free suites like these - how do they make money, do you know?

talos,
@talos@lemmy.world avatar

I don’t think they make money. It’s an open source project where people donate their time as far as I know.

EDIT: I forgot to mention you can donate to the project. Something has to pay for web hosting, I guess.

insomniac,
@insomniac@sh.itjust.works avatar

They don’t. Libre Office is maintained by a non-profit called The Document Foundation. They’re funded entirely by donations. I think they make enough to have some full time employees.

A lot of open source software is created by individuals or non-profits. The Mozilla foundation makes Firefox, for instance. They make money through donations and also Google pays them a ton of money to be the default search engine.

There are for profit companies that make or contribute to open source software. Such as Red Hat. They tend to make money by selling support for the software.

LinuxSBC,

A bit of donations, a bit of unpaid people contributing just to help others.

ebits21,
@ebits21@lemmy.ca avatar

Donations. Volunteers.

Sargteapot,

Or you know, google docs is a thing which is free and imo works better than word

Kbin_space_program,

Google docs is still trash though.

crossal,
@crossal@lemmy.world avatar

How so?

MrSpArkle,

A web browser is not a word processor no matter how much they tart it up. If the thing isn’t saving a file to my local drive that is in a common format It’s not worth putting your effort into.

So many kids are going to grow up not having the concept where data lives and what the failure modes are.

crossal,
@crossal@lemmy.world avatar

How so? I think you can export in different formats?

JJROKCZ,

Then they ask their grandson or work it dept what they should do and both will answer libre office is free

kescusay,
@kescusay@lemmy.world avatar

Likely scenario, honestly.
I really don’t worry about it, though.
Not to brag, but it doesn’t bother me.
Understand, there is a solution.
X marks the spot.

(Yeah, I know, that’s kind of stupid. But it seemed funny in my head.)

Emerald,

I can’t read you

I’ve given everything, but you seem distant

I can’t feel you

Your heart is somewhere else, it’s missin’

What if I read back to you?

You have a piece, but there’s two

Someone please get this reference.

asteriskeverything,

I used it for my damn resume because I didn’t have word, didn’t need office. I also liked it because when friends asked me to review a document I could open word documents with it, I would do that sometimes even when I had office because WordPad opened faster and I didn’t need perfect formatting.

I think it is safe to say that your 11 year old is factually wrong lol. But it is okay that they don’t understand how bad this is because the concept of how multiple businesses have switched to subscription based models even in places we wouldn’t expect, like a monthly subscription allowing already installed hardware in your car to actually function, cause it’s just 11 year Olds don’t have a great concept of bills and money at that level yet. I say wait for their first complaint of it as an adult and then put on your carefully choreographed and practiced “I told you so” dance

Okay kidding aside I think it is absolutely wonderful this is something you didn’t just have a conversation with your young kid about but that you had to agree to disagree, you sound like a fantastic parent who actually fosters a relationship with their kid. And probably only rarely says I told you so.

macrocephalic,

I disagree. I don’t think a rich text editor should be part of the OS as it’s not there to operate the computer. An OS should be the tools to run applications and manage your computer. There are a bunch of apps which are so small that it makes sense to include them - like a calculator and text editor, but everything else should be optional.

tabular, (edited )
@tabular@lemmy.world avatar

There should be an OS out there for you which doesn’t come with a rich text editor. [If there is ever a time to mention GNU+Linux in a MS thread then now is that time.] For most people however, not including it is a needless barrier to entry.

turkalino,
@turkalino@lemmy.yachts avatar

Google Docs is free and has basically become the standard word processor for the “unsophisticated users” you’re worried about. It essentially comes with your OS because you only need a browser to use it.

I think your kid and his children will survive.

angstylittlecatboy,

Making things in Google Docs is fine, but last I checked Google Docs just sucked at opening anything that wasn’t already a GDoc. LibreOffice Writer sometimes has formatting errors opening Word Docs, but it does a miles better job than Google Docs.

Also, I hate how normalized everything using the cloud (aka “Someone Else’s Hard Drive”) for no reason is.

Muehe,

Well to be fair to Google (urgh, that hurt to write) that’s by design, and LO doing so well at it is due to investing a lot of engineering time on it. Basically MS released an open standard for office documents, but refuses to use this open standard themselves, and instead keeps using an ever evolving “transitional” version of their standard that isn’t made public.

HelloHotel,
@HelloHotel@lemmy.world avatar

it still has strings attached, its not truly “free”. heck, google won’t let it be word pad had no ties to Microsoft once it was given to you. everything else but LibreOffice and some others still have its creator’s ties.

ebits21,
@ebits21@lemmy.ca avatar

It’s too bad Linux isn’t more normalized. For those very simple users (and for the more sophisticated) Linux is probably much better than Windows at this point.

No ads, free software, updates can be very simple and stable, less security issues.

Wooki,

Why in gods name don’t you use libre office. It’s so much better than word and excel for rent

Frostwolf,
@Frostwolf@lemmy.world avatar

Because libre office is not compatible with many others. You can open it sure but there’s no guarantee that opening .doc or .docx will have broken formatting. Not good for those in the academia or workplace where formatting are strictly enforce.

Wooki,

Absolute bullshit. Microsoft moved to the Open Office document standard after they were forced to and Libre is renown for its ability to open Microsoft’s documents without issue. I have opened countless personally.

Do yourself a favour and get off the junk office suite that hasn’t received a functional update in the last 10 years that wasn’t to improve its rent charging capacity.

funchords,
@funchords@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

This is very upsetting to me–more as a point of principle than in fact–but I appreciate that it doesn’t bother younger generations at all.

I am in a support group with over 100 senior citizens in it. Getting a file with a *.rtf extension used to be a thing, but it hasn’t been a thing in years. I do get *.doc and *.docx files so they’re probably getting lured into Office like you said even before Wordpad is removed.

lennybird,
@lennybird@lemmy.world avatar

Honestly, this blows. WordPad fills a niche between a full blown text editor and notepad. Most of my random daily notes use WordPad still when not OneNote.

royalbarnacle,

I don’t get why they aren’t retiring notepad instead. WordPad is just as light and fast while having more features.

Not that I really care, I never touch either ever since MS basically stopped developing them 25 years ago. Notepad++, atom, etc, there are so many superb lightweight editors out there.

AxleGrinder,

Probably don’t use Atom though seeing as it was sunset at the end of 2022

BeardedGingerWonder,

Notepad is absolutely a fantastic tool for stripping any formatting from text and loading a file exactly how you expect it. Like vim only without the easy to use shortcuts.

aidan,

I recently started using a markdown based note taking program called Joplin, that might be useful for you

abcxyz,

Check out Obsidian ;)

spader312,

I love obsidian too!

prole,

Notepad++ was a good alternative when I was running Windows

Buffalox,

That’s an alternative to Notepad, not for Wordpad that has basic word processing formatting.

SeatBeeSate,

You can likely still grab the exe and use it

afraid_of_zombies,

Wow someone was using this?

HawlSera,

“No one’s paying for Microsoft Word, that thing that used to be free so… We gotta kill this so people too fucking stupid to use Libre Office get on board.”

andysteakfries,

Web-based Word is free.

owiseedoubleyou,

But it’s shit.

dustyData,

Yeah, it’s kind of point. It shouldn’t have to be but just like Apple, make the non-payed version unnecessarily shit, artificially limited and constrained so people pay for the premium tier.

Morcyphr,

And you must create a Microsoft account

floppydisk,
@floppydisk@sh.itjust.works avatar

Yeah, every time I’ve used word online it seems to find a new way to completely fuck up the document

andysteakfries,

It works well for basic stuff that a free user might want to use it for. I prefer it to Google Docs by a wide margin.

HawlSera,

Wh… No it isn’t.

andysteakfries,

Is sure is.

The Android and iOS apps are free as well.

uberkalden,

Lol, you think MS is doing this to cash in on the huge Wordpad market?

HawlSera,

They’re doing it because why support the free word processor when they could just support the non-free one?

Resol,
@Resol@lemmy.world avatar

I guess it’s time to go back to Microsoft Works

Morcyphr,

Wow, I had forgotten. Let’s not actually.

recapitated,

Time to go back to WordPerfect

uberkalden,

Why did that thing exist at the same time as word anyways. I remember being so frustrated I couldn’t open word docs in works

BeardedGingerWonder,

Because it was a fraction of the price of word/office?

gataloca,

A good alternative is abiword. Don’t know if it exists on Windows tho.

draxil,

it does

HidingCat,

This place really hates MS. Can't believe some of the comments here.

eee,

Yeah it’s really strange. I’m not a fan of MS by any means, but I’ve found myself making so many pro-MS comments on Lemmy just because the userbase leans so heavily pro-Linux and anti-MS.

visak,

And then getting downvoted by people who just disagree with your opinion. I’m one of the Reddit refugees so I don’t know if we brought that with us or Lemmy was like that before but it’s sad to see.

psycho_driver,

That’s why downvote buttons exist? If you want to express your opinion on the internet, go ahead, but you should be prepared for the possibility that it might not be a popular opinion.

visak,

It’s just that it’s boring. I’d rather have an interesting debate. Downvoting everything you simply disagree with just leads to groupthink forums.

psycho_driver,

Those downvotes aren’t stopping you from having a discussion. They’re just hurting your pride.

schnurrito,

Downvote buttons are meant to be used for comments that don’t contribute to the discussion or are plainly completely wrong, not for opinions you disagree with. But most people can’t stand being disagreed with on things they feel passionately about, so they will still downvote where they merely disagree.

Uniquitous,

You might need to brush up on the difference between theory and practice.

funchords,
@funchords@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

That’s why downvote buttons exist?

No (and not downvoted) … it’s about controlling visibility.

join-lemmy.org/docs/…/03-votes-and-ranking.html

My take: Upvote the stuff other people should see. Downvote the stuff that should have never been here at all. You don’t have to agree or disagree, you can even have no opinion. But if you find it worthwhile to others, upvote it. Detrimental, downvote it.

visak,

Maybe there should be four buttons:

  • Upvote-good comment
  • Upvote-agree
  • Downvote-disagree
  • Downvote-unhelpful/rude

Which could be used for more filtering options.

Or maybe a separate agreement/disagree metric. I wouldn’t mind seeing the consensus on a topic separate from the measure of usefulness.

ebits21, (edited )
@ebits21@lemmy.ca avatar

It shouldn’t be that strange. Linux nerds are a huge Lemmy demographic.

Much more up on new technology, FOSS, and privacy issues etc. than the general population. Good fit for Lemmy.

sab,

Not to mention the amount of people who think this is about notepad.

Uniquitous,

I’m guessing you’re pretty young, then.

KneeTitts,
@KneeTitts@lemmy.world avatar

Apple is a LOT worse than Microsoft these days

tabular, (edited )
@tabular@lemmy.world avatar

MS has a history which informs what their fututre actions are likely to be. If you can’t believe the comments here perhaps you have not heard that history. If you have then consider that lemmy is free software and so you’re more likely to find that way of thinking here.

My goto for distrust of MS …wikipedia.org/…/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish

ChunkMcHorkle,
@ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world avatar

Thank you for the link to embrace, extend, extinguish. You really can’t point it out enough because it’s become the de facto business plan for so many tech companies.

As for myself, after 30 years on MS starting with DOS and fifteen on Mac (concurrent, lol), I’m finally exploring Linux with the end goal of getting off both in terms of desktop computing. I am absolutely convinced MS is trying to head toward an OS subscription model if there’s any possible way they can get away with it, and I want to get off any dependency on their products before they do. Apple hasn’t been nearly as bad for me personally, but as long as I’m moving in a FOSS direction I might as well do those too. Plus, Linux is so light you can run it on truly old hardware, like the 13 year old Macbook with 4 GB of RAM I’m using as a test box.

Cool thing is that Linux believes in live trials, so you download your distro for free, load it up on a thumb drive, and spin it around without installing a thing until you want to, doing this as many times as you like without cost. And the experience is unbelievably full and fast on the most minimal hardware imaginable.

I haven’t decided on a distro yet, still testing them out, but I’m honestly starting to wonder why I waited so long to start exploring the alternatives, because they’re appealing as hell, much more so than yet another disappointing ad-filled Windows release.

DarienGS,

My goto for distrust of MS …wikipedia.org/…/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish

There’s not a single reference on that page that’s less than 20 years old. Yes, Microsoft did some anticompetitive stuff back when Bill Gates was CEO, but it’s absurd to suggest that that still “informs what their future actions are likely to be”. A lot has changed since the 1990s.

tabular,
@tabular@lemmy.world avatar

What has changed which means they should be forgiven or trusted during these 20 years? What does a Linux subsystem for Windows prove? They want users to run Linux apps in Windows so their users will be less tempted to not use Windows… so they can add more anti features for profit.

bemenaker,

I guess you are completely unaware of the fact that a huge chunk of the Azure infrastructure runs on linux now. MS also knows that in the enterprise space, companies use linux in their server infrastructure also, so their employees need to be able to work in linx as well. MS has versions of SQL and I believe also exchange that run on linux. WSL isn’t just about appease neckbeard wannabes.

tabular,
@tabular@lemmy.world avatar

I don’t understand why MS using Linux gives you trust in MS. MS leaked documents (over 20 years ago too) showed they considered free software a serious competitior (including Linux). Makes sense they would use it, so what?

bemenaker,

I was working in the industry like I do now when that happened. I was disappointed the antitrust trial didn’t break up MS into three companies. Things have changed there. I guess we should dig into your past and hold everything you’ve did 20 years ago against you?

Ballmer was the driving force behind that mentality and he’s been gone from MS for a very long time.

tabular,
@tabular@lemmy.world avatar

Would breaking up big tech software companies have the same effect as it does with regular companies? I can’t shake the idea it won’t really work. People don’t want the 2nd best free (gratis) mapping software.

I guess we should dig into your past and hold everything you’ve did 20 years ago against you?

If one has not tried to sincerely make amends or doesn’t appear to have changed then it’s resonable take past actions into consideration?? I still see Microsoft making anti-consumer moves and they ain’t making Windows free software (free as in freedom).

schzztl,

I can count on one hand the amount of MS products I’ve vaguely enjoyed using. Most things seems to be designed with the attitude that people will be using this whether they like it or not, making the user experience fucking awful. Nothing wrong with shitting on them.

qyron,

A broken clock can be right twice a day. Unless someone keeps playing with the dials.

As a former user, and an hardcore fanboy, I loved MS and Windows. They made computers accessible for the general public. The OS and the office suite were great. The sheer amount of available software for it was phenomenal. They even decided to publish games, which meant quality!

Until they decided to break things.

XP was a great OS, Vista wasn’t. Then 7 was back to being good just for 8 to be not as good. Then Cortana and Edge and the push for cloud computing.

What worked, worked well and was actually useful was changed, removed, phased out…

GNU/Linux is not without its dramas and difficulties but we can expect a good degree of continuity between each version of a software (I’m looking a you, Gnome!). And if we’re that hell bent on having that specific specific piece of software or OS setup, well, we can.

MS by contrast just chucks the good things out and doesn’t even let them floating around as something users may add to their system.

Does someone remembers the PowerToys collection?

Bytestream,

Unpopular opinion: Vista was actually a good step forward, but the hardware of the time wasn’t up for the task which made it run like dogshit, and hence the public perception. It brought in better memory management, and UAC for better security among other things.

What worked, worked well and was actually useful was changed, removed, phased out…

MS by contrast just chucks the good things out and doesn’t even let them floating around as something users may add to their system. Cortana, widely hated and unused, was phased out for one… wordpad being gone is so insignificant, it wasn’t even very good at its primary task.

They often replace things, e.g. the Photos app had a Video editor built in but now that’s a separate and better app. I think they’re doing a pretty good job of their software range actually.

What bugs me about Windows is actually their striving so much for backwards compatibility that there’s at least 6 ways to edit things or data and they’re all still officially supported. It’s a bit bloaty and no Devs have any consensus.

Does someone remembers the PowerToys collection?

The newer version is installed on my Windows 11 and is under active development.

bemenaker,

Vista was a good idea and good start, but 7 was the finished product that needed shipped. Just like XP was the finished version of 2000, though 2000 wasn’t bad, but XP was just better, more optimized, and yes hardware caught up also. 98, was 95 but better, fixed and polished. 10 was windows 8 better, fixed and polished, and they dumped that stupid fucking tablet interface that everyone hated, (and whoever put that interface in server 2012 needs to be beaten with a sand filled wiffle ball bat)

Backwards compatibility is why windows dominates the market. Without that, it wouldn’t have taken over the business world. Legacy code is what makes the business world operate. Yes it hold back windows for some growth, but deprecating that would wreck so many businesses, especially small ones.

TWeaK,

Does someone remembers the PowerToys collection?

That name rings a bell. My username is from “Tweak Tools 95”, which I think was a part of that or something.

Edit: Also Windows has a long history of alternating good and bad versions.

  • 98 - good
  • ME - bad
  • XP - good
  • Vista - bad
  • 7 - good
  • 8 - bad
  • 10 - good
  • 11 - bad

In theory, the next version of Windows should be fairly good, or at least an improvement on 11. However I worry that MS will buck the trend now - particularly as they’ve pivoted away from software sales to software as a service (with additional data collection because fuck paying users).

rippersnapper,

Unpopular opinion: Win 11 works well for me, and is visually better than Win 10. Although it’s a fairly recent PC. Although if they keep pushing more telemetry and ads, I’m moving over to Ubuntu.

mob,

Its the small things on Windows 11 for me. Like the “more options” section on the right click… that must have been added just to annoy people. It’s where all the good options are.

Otherwise, seems to run fine.

TWeaK,

That’s a big issue for me, though. I really value being able to do simple tasks quickly with minimal effort and the fewest clicks, it allows me to focus my attention on the actual thing I’m trying to do. Clicking through multiple submenus unnecessarily infuriates me.

fulano,

As someone from a developing country, windows 11 contributes to higher digital inequality because of its unnecessary high hardware requirements. If they don’t support windows 10 for a long time, we will suffer a great toll.

And unfortunately, people around here barely use linux and developed quite a repulsion for it, which only makes things worse for ourselves…

It’s hard not to hate microsoft when we live on the ugly side of capitalism.

Aatube,
@Aatube@kbin.social avatar

Why does everyone keep forgetting 2000 and 8.1?

TWeaK,

2000 was mostly NT and business stuff (which later became XP), and 8.1 by definition isn’t really a new version.

Aatube,
@Aatube@kbin.social avatar

Actually, 8.1 is, or at least they market it like a new version just like Windows 7.

infinipurple,

PowerToys is very much live and available for download. I use it daily.

floofloof,
ReluctantMuskrat,

PowerToys is alive and well, and updated regularly. More features now too.

ebits21,
@ebits21@lemmy.ca avatar

I mean, not many people are in the loving Microsoft camp. Tolerate maybe.

uberkalden,

I would have never thought so many people would be pissed about Wordpad. Fucking Wordpad! It’s terrible! And Ms isn’t killing it to get office subscriptions because no one fucking uses it! They’re killing it because it isn’t worth the effort to maintain. There are so many free alternatives that are better.

DoucheBagMcSwag,

Man fuck Microsoft. Killing a free app and replacing it with a paid app that has a subscription bundled.

What the actual fuck!!?

PutangInaMo,

It’s word pad though, do you really ever use it? I use notepad for a quick temp fix in a pinch, I haven’t used word pad in like 15 years.

pqdinfo, (edited )

Removed as a protest against the community’s support for campaigns to bring about the deaths of members of marginalized groups, and opposition to private entities working to prevent such campaigns, together with it’s mindless flaming and downvoting of anyone who disagrees.

PutangInaMo,

Honestly if I need to format, that gets done in the app that I’m going to send whatever text.

Whatever goes into notepad for me will either get deleted, go into notepad++, or whatever app I’m going to send it (office).

Sounds like you could benefit from replacing WordPad with Notepad++.

pqdinfo, (edited )

Removed as a protest against the community’s support for campaigns to bring about the deaths of members of marginalized groups, and opposition to private entities working to prevent such campaigns, together with it’s mindless flaming and downvoting of anyone who disagrees.

bemenaker,

Regularly

PutangInaMo,

Wow really? What for? I’ve seriously never heard of or seen somebody use it.

bemenaker,

When I need to copy something from instructions out of a doc file, so much faster to open copy and close before word even opens

PutangInaMo,

Oh yeah I’m not saying use word. Notepad++ or the native sticky notes are both good alternatives for WordPad.

bemenaker,

Fair point, I do use n++ a lot

Buttons,
@Buttons@programming.dev avatar

I’ll be editing PDFs with standard Mac software that comes with the OS while Windows charges a fee to edit text files.

macrocephalic,

Yeah but you need to install an app from the apple store if you want to tile your windows on your screen, or turn off mouse scroll acceleration. There’s a lot of stuff each has which is missing from the other.

learningduck,

Do people using wordpad for anything productive?

There’s notepad and if I want anything fancy, either use libreoffuce or MS’s online MS Word.

pqdinfo, (edited )

Removed as a protest against the community’s support for campaigns to bring about the deaths of members of marginalized groups, and opposition to private entities working to prevent such campaigns, together with it’s mindless flaming and downvoting of anyone who disagrees…

Uniquitous,

You… have heard of Microsoft before now, yes?

Blackmist,

I get that people here hate MS, but defending Wordpad is a bonkers hill to die on.

It’s complete wank.

heimchen,

My basic text editor on Winows somehow broke and crashes with a wired memory error so I WordPad is my basic text editor

Akasazh,
@Akasazh@feddit.nl avatar

Why not libre Office ?

verve,

Or download notepad.exe lmao fucc

derpgon,

Notepad++ gang

heimchen,

Takes a bit to long to start for such simple things like just fixing copy paste formation or testing different keyboards etc.

Quill7513,

It’s the free (as in beer) program that comes with windows to open doc and rtf files and put together fine enough documents. Dropping it is Microsoft telling users unwilling to pay for word without the technical knowhow to get LibreOffice or Abiword going to get fucked. Its anti consumer no matter which way you slice it.

Blackmist,

It’s have to actually launch it to be sure, but I’m pretty sure you can open them in Edge these days, along with all the other office documents.

As for creating documents, your average social media comment editor has more features than Wordpad. Given that Chrome is still the most popular browser on Windows by some way, I think the average Windows user can download programs just fine. OpenOffice is even on the MS Store for those stuck on Windows S edition.

silentknyght,

I don’t think so.

My in laws are very technologically illiterate. I bet they have never opened word pad except accidentally… but I guarantee they know what “Word” is and think “word pad” is just some nerdy tech person word for the software they know.

I bet the number of people who both rely on word pad and who don’t know about any other free alternatives is so very low.

nutsack,

thanks for nothing, hitler

Mandy,

of course, gotta push more people to that godawful office 365 crap somehow

uberkalden,

Seriously, the market share of Wordpad users is so small Microsoft absolutely does not care

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