That’s my understanding, yes

Eh. They shared those features to Notepad, so I would agree that they’re a part of it.

Notepad++ isn’t trying to shoehorn in AI for starters. It’s clear Microsoft is praying the current gimmicky narrative of AI will let the masses not realize this is a privacy nightmare.

Yes, it objectively is. And so are various other text editor options that are out there.

But just speaking about Notepad++, you can scale it down to a very simple text editor (like Notepad), it you can easily ramp it up to a much more feature rich one. And for me, the ability to have a vertical list of files is a big plus. As is its ability to optionally show line numbers.

• Keeps your progress if you exit without saving
• Supports tabs so you don’t have 5 separate notepad windows open
• syntax highlighting for programming languages and markdown format
• plugin support
• can handle extremely large text files (I’ve opened 50gb text files and used ctrl+f to find terms and it worked fine)
• superb tools for manipulating text (e.g., use reg expressions). Super easy and flexible in making mass edits.
• dark mode support. That alone makes it superior lol

If you just need a quick window open to make a note you might actually prefer Sticky Notes over Notepad!

the only thing I need it for is to select text vertically (by holding left alt). there are a few similar ones for linux but some crash and the rest don’t have a dark theme, so I still use it with wine.

Thanks for mentioning Notepads, never heard of it but it looks interesting. I already use quite a few different note taking apps, but still often start with Notepad when I don’t know where the info will eventually end up…

I think the idea is that you can use it for reformatting small sets of data I guess.

“make all the dates in this CSV iso-8601”

Adding layers to paint was what surprised me

Why? I mean, one of the main features of generative AI systems is to generate text (the quality of which I won’t get into), why not add this to something like Notepad. I agree that Notepad should be thought of as a lightweight, well, notepad, but still might be useful as a quicker alternative to Word.

The fact that Microsoft is trying to shove Copilot down our throats at every possible step is idiotic, I agree, but having an AI as part of a notes app doesn’t seem too weird.

Sublime can do all of that as well, but it’s more performant, has better shortcut keys, and IMO it has much nicer navigation for larger files (gives you a sort of eagle-eye’s view of the entire document next to the scrollbar). That’s all very much a personal preference thing of course.

thanks!

Me too! So much so that I have sworn to name my first secretary Kate.

There is actually an option to do that iirc. You can have it show entry descriptions.

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/f468d2ca-d55e-41e9-828b-d071ce8082ca.png">

What does “Excel” do? What does “Steam” do? What does “Balena” do? What does “Conky” do?

Notepad++ on windows is kind of the GOAT IMO.

.

Not our fault you won’t listen to common sense and reason. Enjoy your bloated fascist spyware just because you think Linux users are creepy or whatever the fuck you think.

Guess that’s what happens when Windows drives me insane

If they made it more useful, people would use it. Making support for modern formats, maybe even Markdown could have been added and it would already be 5x more useful. Also add another set of basic features like tables, some advanced formatting to the mix as well.

Add it to OneNote then?

Can’t wait for them to remove Calculator, since you can ask AI to calculate stuff, you know.

I think you got used to used to it, if you would use Linux for 15 years (like me), then going back to Windows really shows all these problems of Microsoft.

The biggest problem here that you get this pop-up in the first place.... And I'm pretty sure it's not only Notepad, all Microsoft products (including Windows) is getting worse and worse due to enshittification.

Startup time. RAM consumption. Privacy.

I heavily use both and this is objectively untrue.

Those are 2 different use case pieces of software . NP++ is an editor while vscode is an IDE

Install time? Startup time? Useless bloat?

Clearly this is a controversial statement. I’m team “use what’s available and preference tools that get the job done quickly.”

I work in several different languages. VSCode has TreeSitter and a bevy of slick plug-ins. NP++ does not. I can use VSCode on both Windows and Linux. If I’ve got a desktop environment, I will hands down pick VSCode over NP++ every time.

Otherwise, let’s be real, NeoVim is king.

Vi

GNU Emacs is the same everywhere you go (if you don’t mind the TUI)

Well… it just removes so much toxicity from the outset

IMO:

• want to show off? i3wm with gaps and rofi for menu launcher. Add it some transparency effects too.

• want the MacOS style? Gnome. Default on a lot of distros.

• want something stable? XFCE. Install and forget.

I really like my KDE plasma

Gnome is an opinionated desktop environment and that turns some people off. But it’s bold enough to make some design decisions and have a limited scope. KDE tries to be another Windows alternative.

Of course, you could go with a tiling window manager but my vote goes to Gnome. I’ve had a very smooth experience on Gnome for the last couple years.

I want a clean, advanced, well designed desktop and Im okay with redoing my work flow

Use Gnome

Gnome is cool but can it be slightly more Windows?

Use Cosmic (PopOS)

I want lots of customization, advanced features, and a traditional windows desktop metaphor

Use KDE

I want Windows and don’t really care about customization

Use Cinnamon

Dude the Windows 9x look was fucking dope

Use Mate

Im installing this on a potato

Use XFCE

Sure but with Wordpad I wouldn’t much care if they spam it up with this kind of crap. It’s something that doesn’t have much use now, because there’s notepad for basic text files and Word or Libre Office for actual word processing. So if someone wanted something to type up some notes that get automatic backups, and have AI recommendations (not that it would be me, but who knows?) just put it on there so we still have a simple text editor that’s installed by default.

If they’re going to enshittify something at least don’t enshittify the basic tools of the OS.

What a sycophantic shitlord.

If you are in IT I’d hope you know some version of Unix. Consumers I wouldn’t expect them to know, they just want it to work and don’t care about configurations and how it works.

“But it turns out that, while this screenshot is indeed real, those eagle-eyed enough should already be able to tell that something isn’t quite lining up here. In fact, nearly any Windows 11 user could open up the fully updated Notepad without getting this pop-up at all, even if they aren’t already signed into a Microsoft account. So, what’s the deal here?”

“The key is in the exact wording, identifiable within the first sentence: “Sign in with your Microsoft account to use Rewrite and its features in Notepad.” This is a prompt that exists, yes, but one that’s exclusive to Copilot+ PCs and explicitly requires the user to trigger it by clicking the Rewrite button, as confirmed by our own testing.”

tomshardware.com/…/no-notepad-for-windows-11-does…

techradar.com/…/seen-those-complaints-online-abou…

Please read the article. No. My access to notepad is not restricted. I also don’t run any copilot features of any kind on windows 11. Yes, I believe Generative AI Copilot is enabled by default, but in this case the only time you get prompted to login is when you use a feature in notepad that directly needs copilot in order to work and you the user have to select that feature. Meaning you can use notepad without it entirely and never even see this prompt at all.

Microsoft is a tech giant with all the bad crap that implies. They do enough terrible things that we don’t need to lie to make them look bad.

No, only in so far as the button to use it existing passively

No

And no

I use Kate on the windows work pc

I use Kate on the windows work pc

They really do seem to be on a mission to cram it into everything

Yeah. This is why I’ve disabled copilot and Gemini on my devices altogether. It’s not worth it to have this nonsense filling up everything you use or rely on on a daily basis.

Yeah. Like, I get AI can be useful, but it’s fucking everywhere! Even a god damn fridge got AI! And I hate it to be so forced on me, like, I just wanna write text or code without Copilot annoying me all of the time.

Oh, one of the first things I did was group policy edit anything to do with tracking, ads, or AI.

It’s a Surface Go 2, 8GB RAM, I think - maybe 4 - and a couple years old now. Haven’t tried, actually, since I rarely if ever need the cameras. However, I read that getting the cameras to work is a bit of a hassle. Not impossible but annoying

Nothing I could find immediately. I found an Arch Wiki entry which shows that most features work out of the box. Not sure if that’s your exact model and can’t comment on how reliable the information presented is too.

wiki.archlinux.org/title/Lenovo_Yoga_14s_2021

Have you ever built PCs? Macs are significantly more expensive for the same spec

The rest I agree with, it doesn’t help that Windows has been steadily going downhill with each new version…

A Windows PC of similar quality to what Apple offers (built quality and specs) is not that much cheaper

I don’t think that’s true, at least if we’re talking about hardware. The only thing that I think really makes this argument is the screen, because you need to go really high end to get the same quality screen (if it exists).

If we mostly stick to CPU, RAM, storage, etc, then you can get a really competitive PC for about half the cost. I bought a decent ThinkPad new about 7 years ago for $500 (E series), which was pretty competitive w/ the Macbook Pro in terms of specs, and I still use it to this day. I didn’t go top-of-the-line, so the CPU was a little worse and it had integrated graphics, but I could absolutely find a similar build to the MBP for $1k or so, probably less. The MacBook Air and Mac Mini, however, is a lot harder to find a competitor for and I think their value is quite strong with that form factor.

If we include software, then yeah, macOS offers a ton of value, since you get a decent office suite and a bunch of other utilities included with it, whereas w/ Windows, you just get trial versions of subscription software. So valuing the included SW in macOS vs Windows really depends on the individual.

Windows is just bad

Agreed. I only buy “Windows” laptops to install Linux on, and on my last laptop, I got a $40 discount because I told the sales rep I wasn’t interested in Windows and they gave that to me.

That said, the value that Windows provides that other OSes don’t is compatibility. macOS can’t play Windows games, and Linux can’t play some games that work on Windows. If you need that compatibility, the value assessment is a lot different than if you could switch platforms without giving anything up.

Easy to avoid on Macs. Harder on phones for non-technical types. The bigger issue with Apple is I think getting data out of iCloud should you want to do something else. Their proprietary formats and databases (especially for photos) is kind of a nightmare.

Examples? Not at all my experience. I love my Linux boxes but every MacBook I’ve owned has lasted 10 years and generally is quick until near the end of that period. My iPhones have also all lasted longer than my Android phones with considerably more updates and security patches (supposedly this will be more on par now if Google doesn’t cancel yet another program).

I game a ton and the only missing games these days are malware. I simply don’t play those games.

areweanticheatyet.com

Daily use, however? Really? I have a completely ad-free easy to use experience, I actually give KDE to the elderly because it’s significantly easier to use for daily use outside of gaming.

Most peoples usecases are limited and linux is legitimately just better for that, having ads in your start menu and file manager are terrible for people who don’t know what they’re doing.

Yes, if your only or at least primary reason for using your PC is to play games, you’ll have an easier time on Windows. That’s an undeniable fact.

However, that doesn’t mean you need Windows to play games. There is a huge amount of games that work on Linux, and outside of competitive MP games w/ invasive anti-cheat, VR, and maybe a couple other niches, pretty much everything works on Linux, though some games will need a few tweaks (ProtonDB for details).

The more people that switch to Linux, the more attractive the platform is for game devs, meaning the more likely we’ll get official support for more games. Look at what has happened since the Steam Deck’s launch, we’ve gone from devs completely ignoring Linux to some games spending actual resources to support it. That’s phenomenal!

If you want an alternative to Windows without all the crap Microsoft is shoving into it, Linux is your best bet. Consider trying it out, you may be pleasantly surprised.

That said, if you’re uninterested, that’s totally cool too.

Yeah, but have you seen the performance difference between Windows and Linux machines? SteamOS is absolutely crushing it when it comes to improving Linux, making it much more user-friendly. They’re even opening it up to other platforms, which is a huge win for everyone.

We should never tire of pointing it out though.

Not the article, I meant the comment section

Crys in simulator gamer. But agreed, hopefully this trend will be good for Linux use.