![]() Advanced Text EditorsĪmong coders and writers, you'll find a lot of heated (but usually civil) debate about the virtues of various text editors, once you get into the more advanced ones. You probably already know how I feel about Java applications, so I'll leave that up to your discretion. If you're looking for a more terminal-esque writing environment, there's also the Java-based jDarkRoom. WriteRoom also provides an optional Input Manager which adds an "Edit In WriteRoom" option to Edit menus in other applications. WriteRoom is cleaner, more configurable and easy to grasp. I guess I would call Diamond (I'm sorry) a little rough. I haven't been able to get used to Diamond's interface, though, so I've moved on without giving it a fair shake. There are other intriguing projects coming from the same author, as well. Both of these programs are Cocoa-based, and some compatible utilities can add features you might be wishing for.ĭiamond offers quite a few tools, and is worth a look. If it works for you, though, full-screen editing can be one way to really get down to writing. Actually, that's the only mode these two offer. Editors such as Diamond (free) and WriteRoom ($24.95USD, 25% student discount with code: student) offer the same full-screen editing mode as most of the applications I've mentioned previously. They provide minimal formatting (i.e., bold and italics) and font selection, usually with additional features which make them better than just using TextEdit. Some of what I would classify as text editors are actually Rich Text editors with some rudimentary options for emphasis and alignment. Whether used alone or in combination with other applications, there's a range of tools available to fit a variety of user needs. ![]() You can use them for free-form writing and to avoid the distractions of toolbars, palettes and formatting concerns, or use markup within the document to prepare them for formatting at the time of export. However, they can be writing tools, and very good ones. pretty much everything which makes a word processor a word processor. They lack formatting options, alignment options. Text editors are, quite obviously, not word processors. Read on for some final thoughts on the current array of Mac writing tools for students, teachers, professors. To round out our roundup, we'll take a look at some (possibly) unexpected solutions, as well as some utilities which can aid any writer. This is the third and final installment in the "Back to School: Writing Tools" series ( parts I and II are here). Multiple Aspell options are available through this panel and allow the user to tune up the dictionary properties to his or her needs.TUAW's going Back to School! We'll be bringing you tips and reviews for students, parents and teachers right up until the bell rings. For example, Mail, OmniWeb, Project Builder, and TextEdit can use Aspell's ability to check spelling in different languages.Ī preference panel named Spelling is provided with cocoAspell as an interface for dictionary selection and setup. It means that any Mac OS X application that uses system's spell checking APIs can take advantage of Aspell's features. There are two major improvements over the original UNIX project:ĬocoAspell is created as a service provider for the system-wide spelling services on Mac OS X. I have compiled Kevin's code for the Mac OS X platform. It also has support for checking (La)TeX and HTML files, and run time support for other non English languages. In fact recent tests shows that it even does better than Microsoft Word 97's spell checker or just about any other spell checker I have seen. Its main feature is that it does a much better job of coming up with possible suggestions than Ispell does. Here is a brief snippet of how Kevin describes Aspell on his web site:Īspell is an Open Source spell checker designed to eventually replace Ispell. CocoAspell is Mac OS X interface to Aspell – A more intelligent Ispell – that is being developed by Kevin Atkinson.
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