That’s where doPDF shifts into place. This free PDF converter not only rescues you from having a hole drilled into your pocket where loose change starts to seep out but it also saves you a whole lot of productivity time as well.

Here’s How to Get Started

doPDF is extremely simple to use so if you don’t have a lot of patience with 3^rd party applications fear no more because you’ll have a smooth time with this software.

First you need to download this app. Once you’ve installed the application just open up a document in Microsoft Word, NotePad, WordPad or pretty much any other text editing software. I’m going to use Microsoft Word for the sake of this tutorial.

Next you have to go to File-> Print-> doPDF.

Now you just have to click OK and a small window will pop-up asking you where you’d like to save your new PDF document, once you’ve chosen your preferred location then click OK once again.

And you’re finished, it’s as easy as that! With these few steps you’ve just created a high quality PDF document.

Before the conversion:

After the conversion:

Conclusion:

The entire process from begining to end shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete. It is possible that as doPDF converts a document the file can suffer from minor unusually formatted images or texts, however for the most part doPDF is pretty accurate.

At the moment there’s no option to print web pages (for example: news articles or pages off a forum) that automatically divide into separate pages, thus you’ll most likely end up with lines that divide the article or page throughout your PDF document, if you decide to print directly from the web.

Another quick issue I discovered was the size of the file doPDF creates. The size of the document can be a bit large and sometimes daunting depending on how many images a page may contain, though if you can manage to use WinZip or a free similar app to ZIP the file up, it shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Please feel free to MakeUseOf the comment box below and leave us your thoughts.  What similar apps do you use?

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A pretty straight forward and no fuss application. It does one thing and does it well. Download the application and install. Fire it up and you will be greeted by the main interface.

JOCR essentially allows you to take screenshots and then detect the text within the image, excellent for situations where you are copying from an image but you don’t want to type the text.

You can capture a region, a window or the entire desktop and then perform character recognition. Once you have captured the image just hit recognize and JOCR will attempt to give you the text from within the image.

It is pretty fast and the actual recognition time will depend upon the type of image you are trying to perform OCR on. The recognized text is placed on the clipboard and JOCR will open up a notepad file where you can paste the text and see how well JOCR fared. As you can see it did fairly well (just messing up Windows to IWindows in line 3)

Although JOCR is officially limited to reading screen grabs, however there is nothing stopping you from scanning a document, save it, open it up at 100 % and summon JOCR. It actually did a pretty good job when I opened this image and then took a screenshot of the window to read it.

JOCR requires that you have Microsoft Document Imaging installed on your system. If you have Office 2003 or higher, chances are that you have it installed. In case it is not, you can do so from within “Add and Remove Programs” and then choosing to install “Document Imaging”.

JOCR can recognize text in a number of languages ranging from Dutch to Hungarian to German to Russian. You would have to choose the language manually depending upon the type of characters you are going to be recognizing.

Although the application has not seen updates since some 2 years, it does a pretty good job on both black and white as well as colored images and could be a time saver with your scanned documents or images.

Have you ever used an OCR application? Which ones do you know about?

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In it’s basic form, SourceEdit is a glorified text editor. However, what makes SourceEdit so useful for application developers is it’s ability to instantly switch into a coding environment, complete with automatic formatting and color coding that can help you maintain correct structure and syntax when you write applications in C++, Java, Visual Basic and about ten other common programming languages.

A Review of SourceEdit

Used as a standard text editor, the look and feel of this application is a lot like WordPad, but the additional formatting features are created with programmers in mind. It is an all-in-one editor that accomodates (as best it can) the formatting and syntax from thirteen of the most popular desktop and internet programming languages. The coding environment is fairly clean and easy enough to learn quickly.

The buttons on the main menu bar include standard file and copy commands, and also includes Insert Time Stamp, Display File in Default Browser (for HTML programming), managing bookmarks, and options. The left pane provides an easy browse feature to open and save files. Switching between the various programming languages is as easy as right clicking in the text area, selecting “options,” and then choosing the “Langauge/Tabs” setting.

In this screen, you can choose the default language that you want to use when the application first opens. The default language determines how the application will format and color code your text as you write your software.  In my particular case, I usually use Visual Basic as my default, but I often switch to HTML when I’m doing web design work.

Programming Features of SourceEdit

Once you start using the application as an editor, and not just as a text editor, its value really shines through.  In my case, I use it to throw together simple Visual Basic scripts that perform basic file manipulation or database query tasks. This application automatically formats each line correctly indented, depending on the programming structure you use. For example, For loops, If-Then statements, and other routines are automatically formatted for you – so the software looks clean and professional.

As you can see, the example above shows how SourceEdit formats Visual Basic code, with subroutines in blue, numbers in red, and regular text in black. However, just setting the current language setting to HTML, you can also use the same software to edit HTML code with the appropriate syntax color coding.

As you can see here, HTML tags are all clearly identified in maroon, tag elements are highlighted in blue, comments are green, anything in quotations is dark grey, and actual page text is black. For web programmers who enjoy the control that text editing offers, this application allows you to keep that control, but you also receive the benefit of formatting and syntax, so that you’re less likely to forget a tag or otherwise completely mess up your web page. I’ve used SourceEdit for my HTML coding needs ever since the software was first released, and it’s saved me immeasurably in reduced troubleshooting time.

Another nice feature of the software is that if you don’t like the default color schemes as shown above, you can customize the software so that the various elements of your code are colors that you prefer.  To do this you right click in the text area, click options, and click “Color/Font.”

Here you can change keywords, operators, variable types and a whole list of other programming elements to display in whatever color and font style that you prefer. Another nice customization feature of this software is the ability to specify specific keywords for the software languages. You do this by going to Tools, and then “Language Editor.” For example, in the shot below, I’m adding a custom “starting,” and “ending,” keyword for ASP code. This feature is nice for when there are certain functions that exist in the language you use that SourceEdit doesn’t originally recognize. This is where you can add those new functions or commands.

Finally, another programming feature that I like about this software is that there’s an “autocomplete” tool. Pressing Cntrl-Space enables a drop-down box that provides you with the autocomplete options based on what you’ve already typed.

Other Cool Features

The programming functionality of this software alone sets it at the very top of my list for favorite text editors. However, there are even more features that I feel deserve honorary mention because of how useful they’ve been during the time I’ve used this software. The first one of those is the “file mapping” feature.

File mapping (in the options dialog) allows you to tell the software which syntax/color scheme to use depending what the extension is of the file that you’re opening. For example, if you open a .cpp file, the software will automatically enable C++ color codes, using .php will use PHP syntax, and so on. This saves you time because you don’t have to constantly reset the current language setting.

Another cool feature of this software is the HTML toolbar feature, which automatically inserts HTML tags for you, using the correct formatting.

In the shot above, I’m about to select one of the “form” options. When you click on any of the buttons in the HTML toolbar, it will insert the correct HTML code wherever you currently have the cursor placed. For people who can never remember how certain tags are used (like me), this feature is a life-saver.

And finally, saving the best for last, there’s the ability to view four documents at once using four frames.

The ability to split the text editor display into four screens is just icing on the cake for any programmer who, like me, loves to copy and paste code snippets that I’ve already written elsewhere. This feature lets you easily scroll through all of your code on the same screen instead of flipping through several windows hidden throughout your desktop.

Do you like to program using a text editor rather than through programming software, and if so, do you have favorite editors that you like to use when programming text-based languages? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

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So what do you do? Do you write on a piece of paper? Or do you open a text editor and save the note or list to your desktop? I find both alternatives anything but optimal.

Personally, I have worked with digital post-it notes in the past. They ended up cluttering my screen which got really annoying because I prefer a very cleaned up, empty desktop.

Here are the alternative free note taking applications that work for me.

Note Taking with NoteScraps (Windows)

NoteScraps is a most simple but extraordinarily easy to use and handy tool for Windows XP and Vista. Notes are centrally stored within the program window (see screenshot below) and the program resides in the Windows tray.

With the free version you can create up to 10 notes. I found no limitations as to the length of each note. You can type 14 lines of text, after that the note retains its maximum size and a scrollbar is introduced for more. URLs are recognized and active, however you cannot add images. Furthermore, you cannot format text.

As strange as it may seem, you can neither delete notes nor change their order. A note is deleted when it’s empty. And the last note you created or edited is the first one in the list. The best thing is that you can search your notes. All notes that contain the keyword remain visible, while all others vanish for the moment.

So this tool really keeps its promise. It’s simple and elegant.

List Making with Printable Checklist (online)

Printable Checklist is a website that lets you create reader- and printer-friendly lists. It’s super simple and easy to use. The screenshot below should not require any further comments.

But just in case…

Apparently you click “Add item” in the bottom left to add a line, you click “OK” to finish editing an item and when you scroll over an item with the mouse a red cross appears which you click to remove that item from the list.

Karl did a review on the site a few weeks back, see A No-Nonsense Online Checklist Creator.

If these tools were way too simple for you, maybe the next one is what you’re looking for.

Note Taking and List Making with Gubb (online)

This last online tool is more complex, but offers a lot more options and room for creativity. Gubb works very intuitively, only that notes are called lists. Of course you can add items to your list and edit them, additionally you can add a comment, a due date, rate each item or move it to another list.

The screenshot reveals even more features. Obviously you can print, email and even text your lists to someone. Beyond that you can share selected lists with other users or take a list off your “homepage” (main page), i.e. hide it. Through the Lists tab at the top of the screen you can view your hidden lists and un-hide them.

Which tool appeals to you the most? Do you still prefer pen and paper and why? Or can you recommend a different tool? We appreciate your feedback!

Image credits: bizior from fotolia

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If you’re tired of having your notes and thoughts relentlessly scattered all around your desktop while the thought of having to manually organize these things has your mind cluttered up, then WikiPad is the ideal candidate that will bring forth a solution to the change you’ve subconsciously been searching for.

I stumbled upon WikiPad while doing a search with the set of words “notepad” and “organized” in it. To be honest I’m actually quite surprised at the fact that I was able to come across this application, because it seems as if it were nested deep within the internet’s layer after layer of endless information. Until a couple of days ago, I had never even heard of the word Wiki and Pad in the same sentence, let alone as one word. However, as this application has allowed for the simple, quick, and effective organization of what was once my self-indulged mess of papers and thoughts, I am glad I stumbled upon it at this precise time!

You can use this application to keep track of projects, personal contacts, general information, to-do lists, storage of HTML files, and more, later allowing you to place them on a website, CD, or any other HTML based application.

A warning: once you begin to use WikiPad you’ll probably conform to an incredible amount of usage! This application is original and lets you keep track of information, search detailed specific data, and use it in any way you’d like as it is an Open Source application!

Features

Here’s a list of WikiPad’s solid features:

• On the fly WikiWord linking, as you type
• WikiWord auto-completion
• Easy WikiWord navigation
• Wiki text styling
• WikiWord History
• Wiki document attributes
• Dynamic views
• Tree/Outline view with over 100 icons
• To-do lists
• Incremental search
• Search and Replace
• Autosave
• Export to HTML
• All your data is stored in plain text
• URL and file linking
• Intuitive keybindings
• Help Wiki included

WikiPad’s Uniqueness & Origin

The difference between WikiPad and other notepad-like applications is the simplicity and facility it offers when cross-linking your information. You’re able to create links by typing in WikiWords. It’s no shocker to me that this application exhibits the word Wiki in its name, since wiki means quick, and these application-based names are known for the quick and easy combination of useful information (i.e. WikiPedia).

Verdict

WikiPad is a useful Open Source application that delivers the astounding organizational skills that sometimes we professionals and computer savvy people alike seem to lack. With this being said, I enjoyed and will continue to enjoy using WikiPad.  However, one major implication (in my book) that I didn’t like about this application was its GUI (graphical user interface). I think it should be a bit “easier” on the eyes and it should be somewhat more inviting instead of simple and basic. As well as the format in which you can view the way it categorizes your notes.

Plug and Play

You’ve read how great WikiPad is, and also how it can be configured to be made a little better. However, now you’re ready to install. Here is a quick review on how to install and setup your WikiPad to get it up and running in no time!

First thing you have to do is visit the WikiPad site and download the latest version of Wikipad (1.8) by scrolling all the way to the bottom and clicking on the link shown below:

(The Wikipad wiki software available for Windows, Linux and Mac PCs. So it covers pretty much everyone here.)

After you’ve clicked on the above outlined link you will be directed to a page with the following link in it:

Click on this link as it will open up the download zip file as seen below:

Once you’ve clicked OK, your copy of WikiPad will start downloading instantly. If your Internet connection ranges from DSL to a T1 then it should take a matter of minutes or even seconds.

Now lets open up your newly installed WikiPad. Arrive at your start menu, click on programs and scroll down to view the WikiPad folder and open it up.

Once you open it up you’ll arrive at a help Wiki page, read the page, get familiar with the software, and once you’ve done this you can access WikiPad’s menu and create your new Wiki by clicking on where it says “Wiki” on the top bar:

Give your new Wiki a name and that’s it! You can now begin to write countless amounts of information cross linked between different Wiki’s!

WikiPad Bonus

Well, you didn’t think I was going to leave you empty handed now did you? Sending off our readers without useful tips and thoughts isn’t what we’re accustomed to here at MakeUseOf, thus I’ve compiled a list of useful shortcuts for your WikiPad, enjoy!

Ctrl + J: Wikize
Ctrl + L: Goto Link
ALT + left/right: Move Across (History)
(I defined: ALT + W/D instead)
Ctrl + up/down: Move Across (Parent/Child)

Ctrl + O: Open Wiki
Ctrl + Alt + F: Search (globally)
Ctrl + F: Search in page
F3 / Shift F3: Incremental Search

Ctrl + Q: Home
Ctrl + T: Hide Tree
Ctrl + space: Auto-complete
Ctrl + Tab: Tab Browsing (previous)
Ctrl + Shift + P: Referrers to Page (Ctrl + UP)

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Whatever the case, the Windows operating system still holds dominance on the market. With dominance though, comes much feedback and much modification from the users.

No matter how much you like a certain feature of Windows, there is always someone out there modifying it some way or another. This not only includes some of the integrated features of Windows, such as the Start Menu or Windows Explorer, but also individual applications, such as Notepad and MS Paint.

I have put together a list of the some of the best Windows apps and feature replacements that I could come up with.

1. Vista Start Menu (Start Menu Alternative)

As confusing as the name is, Vista Start Menu not only gets you a Vista-like Start Menu in Windows XP, but also enhances and improves the Start Menu Interface in Windows Vista.

It adds the ability to tab items, quick access to shutdown options, zoom capabilities and simple shortcuts to search on both the local PC and Google.

Other Alternatives:

* JetStart
* Open Menu+

2. Replace Windows Taskbar with RocketDock

Rocketdock is a Windows taskbar replacement with a Mac-like feel. It’s essentially a combination of the quick launch toolbar, the taskbar and desktop widgets, all rolled into one. It looks incredibly futuristic, it has a very smooth feel, and it doesn’t eat up a lot of resources.

Other Alternatives:

* Moby Dock
* Object Dock

3. ExploreXP – Windows Explorer Replacement

ExplorerXP is a free file manager replacement for Windows Explorer. We’ve previously written about Windows Explorer alternatives in the past, but I have found ExplorerXP to be a much more stripped down version of some of its competitors, while still giving you everything you need at the same time.

It has built in tab ability, folder sizes, quick access to My Computer, Recycle Bin, My Docs, Desktop, multi rename tool, all running on just 410KB of size.

If you are looking to upgrade Windows Explorer with many must-have add-ons, while continuing to use many of its built-in capability, this is the freeware to get.

Other Alternatives:

* Explorer2 Lite
* Q-Dir
* XPlorer
* FreeCommander
* A43
* UltraExplorer

4. Process Explorer – Task Manager Alternative

Process Explorer from Sysinternals is a great Windows task manager alternative to get an in-depth look at all of the running processes on your computer, including where individual executables are located, search capabilities for individual DLLs, plus a much more detailed look at system resources, and where they are being allocated.

Other Alternatives:

* What’s Running
* Task Manager Extension 2.1
* MKN TaskExplorer

5. Notepad++ : Wordpad / Notepad Replacement

Notepad++ is a much more comprehensive, in-depth textpad editor, with built-in tab ability for multiple documents, drag and drop support, color print capability, zooming, auto completion, bookmarking, and even macros. It’s not your typical plain ole’ Windows notepad or wordpad. It’s built for code writers and programmers, but used and available to all. Overall, it’s a great Notepad replacement for Windows.

Other Alternatives:

* Notepad2
* Programmer’s Notepad
* PSPad
* MetaPad
* DocPad
* TED Notepad
* AkelPad

6. Defraggler – Faster Replacement for Windows Defragmenter

Defragmenting your hard drive has become an essential part of keeping your computer running at an optimal speed, and keeping your hard drive in tip top shape. It essentially takes all of the separated files on your hard disk, and pieces them back together so that everything just runs smoother.

Windows, for as far back as I can remember, has always had some type of defrag utility. The problem is that it’s never been that good. Fortunately with time, comes faster computers, smarter programmers and a much better interface. Defraggler appears to have all of this rolled into one. It is incredibly easy to use and understand. It has an incredibly nice interface and most important, it’s incredibly fast.

Other Alternatives:

* Auslogics
* Contig
* PageDefrag
* Five Programs To Defragment Your PC.

7. LogMeIn Free – Windows Remote Desktop Alternative

I was amazed when a co-worker referred me to this website, a couple of years ago. The incredible speed, security and capability sold me from day one. The LogMeIn Free version lacks printing and file transfers, but if you are simply trying to access your home or work computer without ever having to touch a firewall, LogMeIn is the best way to go. From all indications, it sounds like it’s the best free alternative to ‘GoToMyPC’ as well.

Other Alternatives:

* UltraVNC
* TightVNC
* CrossLoop

8. Replace Paint with Gimp

Gimp is quickly becoming a strong competitor to Adobe’s Photoshop. It comes bundled with a very similar interface, it has many of the same features as Adobe’s massive product, and it has plenty of tutorials via YouTube or blogs, to go along with it.

As far as a replacement for Microsoft’s Paint, I don’t think it even falls into the same category. However, it is free, and can easily become a full-time replacement for Paint. Keep your eye out for future MakeUseOf tutorials, in regards to Gimp. We had a few Gimp tips already.

Other Alternatives:
* Paint.NET
* PhotoFiltre

As you can see, there are plenty of alternative options out there for many facets of Microsoft Windows. I didn’t dive into the most obvious of items, such as Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer, but I gave a fairly in depth breakdown of many of the free replacment apps available for many different versions of Windows, but specifically for XP and Vista.

Do you have additional suggestions for alternatives? Do you have more items you’d like to see replaced in Windows? Please leave your feedback!

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So imagine how happy I was when Lifehacker profiled Jarte, a portable alternative for MS Notepad.  I downloaded it right away, tried it out and it is GREAT. With the whole folder weighing in at a puny 9,1MB, this can easily fit onto your USB stick.

When you double-click on the Jarte program, it opens in a split second (no waiting for this little puppy). Unlike MS Notepad, it also has a range of options which you can enable or disable, such as writing in bold lettering, inserting hyperlinks, inserting pictures and tables and so on.   But as I said, you can easily disable all that and just have a simple Notepad-type program.

What is even cooler is that you can open tabs, just like in Firefox.    So you can start different texts all in the same window.

When you save your documents, you can save it as a Rich Text document (.rtf) or a text file (.txt).

Other features of Jarte include :

• A spell check
• Zoom in and out (I would imagine the only people who would use this would be those with bad eyesight). Go right up to 200%.
• Word and character count. Good for writers and bloggers who need to keep count of their words.
• Choice between Minimal, Compact and Classic Layout. There are also various toolbars you can show on the Jarte interface. Choose to be minimalistic or fully fledged.
• There are various skins to choose from for your interface. I prefer the brushed metal but the wood is ugly as hell (in my opinion).

I haven’t yet found anything bad about Jarte. Everything seems to work as advertised. Do you use Jarte?  Do you use a similar app? Let us know in the comments.

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One thing that has always been available since the last 20 years from the birth of Windows has been the ‘un-noteworthy’ Notepad.  Life with Notepad couldn’t be any simpler. It strips all formatting and keeps data in its plain format. It doesn’t ask for any special Windows resources, comes up in a blink of an eye and doesn’t nag you with any dialog boxes or prompts.

We all use Notepad to store our scraps of data as text files. But with a little bit of tip and tuck it can be made into an effective sticky note.  Here I am going to show you how to make your own sticky notes with just the Notepad and any version of Windows.

(1) The first step – Creating a new file type

• Open any explorer window.
• Click on ‘Tools’.
• Select ‘Folder Options’ in the drop down and select the ‘File Types’ tab.
• Click on the ‘New’ button and create own file extension by typing it in the ‘New Extension Window’. I called mine – stky (for ‘sticky’)
• Click ‘Enter’.

The ‘File Type’ box gives us the power to create our own file types. A different file type for our version of sticky note gives us control over the way we handle it. So…

(2) Create an action and an application

With the new file type highlighted, click the ‘Advanced’ button. The ‘Edit File Type’ box opens. Click its ‘New’ button and you get to enter a new ‘Action’ and ‘Application Used’ dialog box. Type in ‘open’ and ‘notepad.exe’ respectively in the two fields. Close this box and move on to the ‘Edit File Type’ box.

(3) Assign an icon

In the still open ‘Edit File Type’ box, click on ‘Change Icon’ and choose any available icon or any of your own. Give a nice and apt name to the icon. I gave mine an unimaginative ‘Sticky Note’. Close all open boxes.

(4) Create a new registry value

No, this is not as scary as it sounds. Just a simple two step process.

• Go to Start – Run, and type in regedit, which takes you to the registry editor.
• Expand ‘HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT’ on the left pane.
• Scroll down to your file type. (Mine was .stky)
• Right click on the file type. Select New>Key and input ‘ShellNew’.
• With ‘ShellNew’ selected, move over to the right pane, right click on an empty area and select New>String Value and enter ‘NullFile’.
• Exit the registry editor.

(5) Just reboot.

After a reboot, right clicking brings up the context menu with your sticky note file type under ‘New’.

(6) Using it…finally.

After all the hard work, it’s time for the fruits. Want to list down a to-do list? Just right click anywhere on the desktop and choose the ‘Sticky Note’ file type under the right click ‘New’ menu. Type in the task under file name and then open the file to write something more descriptive. Create as many ‘Sticky Notes’ as you want and arrange them on the desktop.

Thanks to the versatility of the Notepad, ten minutes of mouse work just saved you the bother of installing another piece of software.

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This was a little tedious to say the least. I was so happy with not having to manually change all the files that this did not hit me until I had opened my 1,000th file. Don’t get me wrong I got pretty good at it but this was not how I wanted to waste my time.

Enter BK ReplaceEm (if the link doesn’t work, get it from here), a free program from around the late 1990’s. It is no longer in development, the author’s website is down and the app is no longer supported BUT it still works AWESOME!

When you launch it you will see a screen that looks like this :

Don’t be intimidated. There are loads of options and this baby is super powerful. If I would have used this for my previous task, I would have saved thousands of clicks. Let’s take a look at an actual ‘find and replace’ operation. Highlight the ‘Sample Replace’ Group. Right click and choose ‘Add Files’. You will get the following window:

Here is where you select what files, folders and extensions to process. The other tabs show where you want the changed files written to and where and how you want the backup files created/stored.

I choose to leave my modified files in their original location and to create a backup of each with the .backup extension. This way I can move all of them out when I am sure I didn’t screw something up royally.

Now we are ready to hit the magic replace button on the upper left toolbar. It looks like this:

Then it will take off doing your dirty work for you and you will see a progress window like so:

If you use this program or something similar shout us out in the comments!

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It does highlighting and line numbers, these were my first reasons for using it. Notepad ++ has been my best friend for writing scripts and HTML files.

Now I had a new challenge and my buddy Mike told me that Notepad ++ would be my easiest and FREE solution.

Here was my dilemma – I had 8,342 HTML files and I needed to replace some text on every single page to reflect a company’s identity tweaking. The company was mostly adult-oriented before and now they are trying their hand at mainstream. They needed to remove the word ADULT from their company name every where throughout their site. Now your friendly neighborhood admin was not going to be doing this manually – that was for sure. So I fired up Notepad ++ and searched for this magic option.

Sure enough there it was on the search menu – the option that was going to make my life easier – “Find In Files”.

Using this awesome feature I am able to have Notepad++ find all files with the word I choose in them. It then shows me the results of my search. Once I click on all the instances I want to change, it will open those files. I can then do my “replace on all open files”.

After you find all your instances and have all the files open in Notepad ++ you can then click over to the replace tab – now you will see a option to replace throughout ALL OPENED FILES! Sweet!

I am guessing that some of you out there have never heard of or used Notepad ++ before. So let me run down the basic features with you. If you are a scripter, coder or any type of programing monkey this program will make you salivate!

Check it out, Notepad ++ has:

• Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding
• WYSIWYG
• User Defined Syntax Highlighting
• Auto-completion
• Regular Expression Search/Replace supported
• Full Drag ‘N’ Drop supported
• Multi-Language environment supported
• Brace and Indent guideline Highlighting
• Macro recording and playback
• Bookmarks

Do you have another way to find and replace throughout a slew of files? After completing this task I was told about another free application that might have made my life even easier… It is called BkReplaceEm and stay tuned for my review!

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I can however introduce you to a few programs that may ease your burden and make those hours of studying a little easier. First on the agenda is a nifty little Linux note-taking program for KDE called BasKet Note Pads.

As you probably expect from a note-taking application, BasKet’s main purpose is to arrange all of your thoughts and information in an organized and easily retrievable way. To accomplish this BasKet, not surprisingly, centers around baskets – blank documents that you add notes, pictures and links to. You do that by clicking on any part of the basket, which in turn causes a blue rectangle to pop up.

You can organize your notes into columns (up to twenty on each basket) or just choose the freeform option. If your current basket becomes too large and unwieldy you can always start another one. This results in a hierarchical system of files and folders not unlike the one found in nearly every operating system’s graphical user interface. In this way Basket manages to offer a lot more flexibility than say, a word processor, but still keeps a certain amount of structure that helps you keep your information organized. This makes BasKet a good choice for a wide variety of tasks, but I think you’ll find it particularly useful during large research projects.

You can apply pre-made tags to your various notes so you can tell at a glance if something is “Important,” or “Funny,” etc and you can always create your own tags should the default choices prove too restrictive. This concept is a small part of what seems to be BasKet’s major design philosophy : customize everything. Just about any part of the program you can think of – like the toolbars, keyboard shortcuts, the aforementioned tags and more – can be easily customized.

Customization is never really a bad thing, but I found some of the features and customizations BasKet offers were a bit superfluous. For example, the ability to change the text color and add your own background image may be perfect for Grandma’s stationary program, but it seems silly and useless to me. Especially in a note-taking program, which by its very nature should prize usefulness over looks.

Thankfully, the pointless features do not at all detract from the overall practicality of the program. The filter tool, for example, is basically a search function that makes finding a specific note simple. And the program automatically saves so you don’t have to worry about losing hours worth of research when you’re in a hurry. BasKet also plays nice with other programs. It integrates into Kontact, KDE’s “personal information manager,” and you can integrate links to other programs (like a word processor) into your baskets. And, should you ever choose to include sensitive information in your notes you can protect it with BasKet’s password features.

There is certainly no shortage of note taking programs for Linux. A program called Tomboy leads the pack of programs that are generally very easy to use but also light on features. BasKet, on the other hand, sports considerably more features and an attractive look. Your first look at its busy interface may be a bit bewildering and overwhelming, and the relatively large list of frivolous features and options doesn’t help matters. Still, I am confident that most will find BasKet to be a helpful and worthwhile research tool.

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It may look like your average textpad or notepad, but it’s far from it. You can type the old fashioned way by tapping on individual keys, or you can type the new fashioned way, by sliding your finger across the soft keyboard.

Instead of tapping, you slide or drag your finger across your iPhone’s soft keyboard, making a continuous line from one letter to another. It’s shape writing technology from ShapeWriter.

It certainly makes writing on your device much easier. It’s so easy in fact, I’m using it right now to write this, while in a car on my way to visit the in-laws in another province (no I’m not doing the driving at the moment).

At first, it may appear a little daunting, but you get used to it pretty quickly. After a little practice, I find I can type faster this way, than by tapping. It’s surprisingly accurate, even with long, difficult words like “surprisingly” and “accurate.”

It has a lexicon of almost 60,000 words but sometimes you’ll come across one that it doesn’t recognize. For example, it may have trouble with strange names. Mayoff and Slartibartfast aren’t there, but Beeblebrox and Trillian are.

But even so, it’s no problem really. Just tap them in and Writing Pad will ask you if you want it to remember them. From then on they’ll be available for sliding.

Often the same sliding motion can produce more than one word. For example, “paranoid” can also produce “patented”, “parenthood” and “piebald.” When that happens, the most common one is displayed in your document and a list of the other possibilities are displayed in a bar below the document window. Just tap the one you’re looking for to insert it into the document.

Double letters? No problem. Ignore them. Type cool as c-o-l and Writing Pad just knows what you’re trying to say.

Capitalization? Writing Pad will usually know, but if not, hit the Case button and it will cycle through the various possibilities, like Iphone, iPhone, iphone and IPHONE.

Sounds great, but wouldn’t it be even better if you could use it for something useful? Sending mail, perhaps? Well you can. Slide out your email using Writing Pad and then click Done. Now you’ll see three buttons at the bottom of your screen: Delete, Email and New.

Tap ‘Email’ and your note opens as an email, read for sending. Unfortunately, you can’t easily reply to your messages using the system.

The only negative about Writing Pad is that the shape writing technology is only available when you’re in the app itself and not throughout the entire system. Once you try it, you won’t want to ever go back to the old fashioned way of typing again.

Writing pad from the iTunes app store is well worth the price (free).

(By) Jason Mayoff is a radio newscaster, tech geek and the Make Use Of Podcast Editor. If you’re ever in Montreal, Canada you can hear him on CJAD 800. You can also find Jason at Podcasters4Hire.com and pleasantnights.com, where he talks about keeping an organized and clutter-free home.

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If you’re prepared to pay for a text editor with a free trial option, there is Dreamweaver and Aptana, Aptana has three software packages Aptana Studio, Aptana Cloud and Aptana Jaxer.

If you don’t want to pay for a text editor and would prefer a free option, read on…

Intype

Intype is a really good lightweight text editor for Windows. The interface of Intype is just like the one for TextMate for OS X so it works really well and keeps things simple, easy and tidy. Intype has been around since its first alpha release back in January 2007 and is now on alpha version 3. The progress of Intype has been really slow because they only have two developers. The first is Martin Cohen who is the project leader and the person behind interface for Intype. The second person is Juraj Durech who is responsible for the core C++ programming.

When Intype finally hits 1.0 I think that it’ll be without a doubt one of the best text editors around. Why? Well, Intype is only at version 0.3.1 at the moment and it already packs a good punch. It supports bundles and plugins as well as a bundle editor and a lot more features. All of Intype’s finished and pending features can be viewed here.

The languages that Intype supports syntax highlighting for are C, C++, CSS, HTML, HTML (Rails), Jasmine, Java, Javascript, PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, SQL, SQL(Rails), Textile, XHTML, XML, XSL and YAML. The Bundles that Intype comes installed with are PropertyList, C, CSS, DOM, HTML, Jasmine, Java, Javascript, Perl, PHP, Python, Rails, reStructuredText, Ruby, SQL, Textile, XML and YAML.

What is a bundle?

A bundle is like a shortcut for typing certain functions and commands in languages. An example of how to use a bundle in PHP is if I want to do an If statement, I would type ‘if’ and then hit enter and then it would fill in the other characters to save me time.

Notepad++

Notepad++ is a very popular open source text editor for Windows that a lot of programmers use because of the functionality that it has. Notepad++ was first released in November 2003 and as of writing this article is at version 5.0.

Just like Intype, Notepad++ supports syntax highlighting for a lot of languages.

The languages that it supports syntax highlighting for are C, C++, Java, C#, XML, HTML, PHP, CSS, makefile, ASCII art, doxygen, ini file, batch file, Javascript, ASP, VB/VBS, SQL, Objective-C, RC resource file, Pascal, Perl, Python, Lua, TeX, TCL, Assembler, Ruby, Lisp, Scheme, Properties, Diff, Smalltalk, Postscript, VHDL, Ada, Caml, AutoIt, KiXtart, Matlab, Verilog, Haskell, InnoSetup, CMake and YAML.

Notepad++ has a style editor so that you can change the syntax highlighting of a language so that it’s more comfortable for you if you’re used to a different type of syntax highlighting that Notepad++ uses by default.

Notepad++ allows for the use of plugins and comes with 8 installed. Light Explorer, Spell-Checker, NppExec, MIME Tools, FTP, NppExport, Compare and Document Monitor.

Notepad++ also allows for the use of macros to save you from typing the same functions over and over again. In the preferences you can change everything from the tab size to the blink rate and width of the caret. There is also a shortcut mapper so that you can configure shortcuts to fit how you like.

Notepad++ has a lot of features that I could be here all day writing about so if you want to check out the other features that Notepad++ then head over to their website.

ConTEXT

When I was a full time Windows user my text editor of choice was ConTEXT. I really like the look and feel of ConTEXT – it’s simple and it just works. As ConTEXT is so light it requires hardly any RAM, so if you’re running a few memory intensive applications and you also need to do a bit of programming then ConTEXT is a good choice.

The languages that ConTEXT supports for syntax highlighting are C, C++, CSS, ConTEXT Highlighter, ConTEXT Language Files, Fortran, Foxpro, HTML, Inno Setup Script, Java, JavaScript, Object Pascal, Perl, PHP, Python, SQL, Tcl/Tk, Visual Basic, x86 Assembler and XML. If you don’t like the syntax highlighting that ConTEXT uses then you can always edit it under Options->Environment Options->Colors. You can also download more highlighters from their website.

With ConTEXT you can integrate a compiler to compile source code that you have written to keep a good work flow. To keep things organized with ConTEXT you can also create and manage project files.

ConTEXT also allows the creation of macros to save you time from typing the same functions.

To view all the features that ConTEXT has view their website here.

What text editor do you use for programming? One of the ones above or a totally different one? Tell us all about your favourite program in the comments.

(By) Wez is a student studying computers, also does programming and video tutorials and writes about technology, software and websites, check out his blog @ www.TheTutorialBlog.com

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Being a writer that pumps out at least half a dozen articles a day, I have gradually developed a fondness for the Editor / Notepad application in Windows XP. In fact I prefer it a lot more than Microsoft Word due to the fact that a) it opens virtually instantaneously and b) it is easy to use. You just open it and start typing right away. It’s also perfect for making lists and writing simple HTML. But although I enjoy Notepad’s no-frills approach, there are times when I wish there were at least some other features available.

Enter NoteTab Light.

There are many Notepad replacements on the market but I was particularly taken by NoteTab Light because of the tabs. Being also a Firefox addict, I like my tabs and with NoteTab Light, you can open multiple notes in the same window by having them open in tabs, just like opening up new internet windows in the Fox. Since I often have LOTS of Notepad windows open with article drafts, lists and such like, the idea of consolidating them all into one note window, but in different tabs, appeals to me from a neatness point of view.

Another cool feature is the ability to drag and drop text around the page. Say you are writing an article and you decide that a sentence you have just written deserves to be in the previous paragraph. Just highlight the sentence, click on it with the mouse and drag it to where you want it to go.

As well as some great text features, there are also some conversion tools (see screenshot) and quite a lot of useful HTML formatting tools.

If NoteTab is not to your liking, here are some other noteworthy Notepad replacements :

Notepad ++
Win32Pad
TED Notepad
BDV Notepad
A freeware list of Notepad replacements

Is there an Editor / Notepad replacement that you like which has not been included here? Tell us about it in the comments.

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Below are some of my favorites which I use on a semi-daily basis. Of course, since MakeUseOf is a free applications directory there have been several projects already discussed. These will be linked accordingly.

• Azureus – Torrent application that is multi-platform that is light on memory and heavy on functionality. Frequent updates keep Azureus fast, secure and highly functional.
• GIMP Installers – Why pay the high price for Photoshop when you can just use GIMP, same features, none of the price (Windows only). To replicate Photoshop for GIMP see previously reviewed GIMPShop.
• 7-Zip – Similar to Universal Extractor that Mark reviewed earlier, but this is just as great and heavily supported file archiver with the high compression ratio. Supports 15 formats (despite the name 7-Zip)
• Audacity – Multi-format, multi-track and multi-platform audio editor and recorder with all the bells and whistles. Previous review by Mark…
• FileZilla – The best FTP client for Windows. Trust me, I’ve tried everything else, including paid versions, now this is the only FTP client to use. Once again, see Mark’s FileZilla review.
• PDFCreator – Another great example of “Why pay the high price…” application. Simple Windows print to PDF with a few extra functions. Simple and light-weight. Be sure to read Aibek’s Cool PDF Tools post.
• Pidgin – Windows and Unix instant-messaging unifying application that supports 15 instant messaging platforms.
• Notepad++ – Windows only application that is Notepad but with tens , if not hundreds more features (with plugins) and it integrates with your shell. Must use for generic editor editing any code (HTML, PHP, CSS, etc). Also, ever open up a README file and have it all jumbled and word-wrap doesn’t help… this is the answer.
• Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition – Firefox that’s portable, simple as that. If you like Portable Apps, also check out “How to Turn USB Device into Almost Full-Scale PC“.
• TightVNC – Bandwidth-friendly, multi-platform remote desktop application.
• PortableApps.com – While not a utility, it is SourceForge’s collection of Open Source Portable (smaller file-size versions that fits on a USB Drive) Applications. Aibek did an amazing post awhile back with a great Collection of 100 Portable Apps. So check that out too.

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