Last month I told you about my quest for a better "Find File" utility. This month we'll be looking at the results of another of my quixotic pursuits, the Quest for the Perfect Text Editor.
I should mention here that there's nothing wrong with SimpleText (except its 32 K size limit), or with the Note Pad desk accessory that lives in my Apple Menu. They're perfectly nice text editors: they open reasonably quickly (as opposed to, say, Microsoft Word) and they allow for basic text styling and formatting. And for serious text crunching, BBEdit and its freeware sibling BBEdit Lite are first-rate. My desire for other sorts of text handlers came from a vague need for specialized functions rather than from any real dissatisfaction with the above programs.
After looking in all the usual shareware places, I went home with these.
 
Take a Note
 
EZNote
For ultra-fast note-taking, nothing I found could beat EZNote. Because it's a control panel, it loads into RAM when you start up your Mac. This allows you to access it instantaneously. Its three main functions are assigned to the function keys on the top row of your extended keyboard. Pressing F13 instantly brings up a blank note, F14 copies selected text into a note, and F15 brings up a list of all your EZNotes. I tend to be finicky when it comes to cdevs, but EZNote is so useful that its continued residence in my Control Panels folder is assured.
EZNote (v.1.3, March '98, 352 K) by John Holder is $20 shareware, available from http://www.northcoast.com/~jvholder/ . And yes, downloading it really will make your life EZer.
 
And Check It Twice
 
List Pad
Somewhere between the simplicity of the Note Pad desk accessory and the complexity of FileMaker Pro, there's a niche filled by List Pad. Ideal for making to-do lists or shopping lists, List Pad is designed to handle data too complex for Note Pad or a text file, yet too simple to warrant pulling out a full-blown database. In fact, for some people (like me), List Pad might be the only database program they'll ever need.
The thing I find most charming about List Pad is the large assortment of alternate "busy" cursors: instead of the usual wristwatch or beachball, you can mark idle time with spinning coffee cups, waving flags, and even a slice of pizza disappearing bite by bite.
List Pad (v1.1, April '98, 915 K) was written by Daniel L. Taylor. You can download this $16.95 shareware from http://www.taylor-design.com/ , or see below for your chance to win a copy of List Pad!
 
Then Clip And Save
 
Finder Note
Finder Note has all the features of a simple word processor, with one key difference: instead of documents, it creates text clippings that can be opened directly in the Finder. No application is needed, so these notes open as quickly as any other Finder window! Best of all, you can edit any text clipping, not just those created by Finder Note.
Finder Note (v.2.0, March '98, 245 K) by Jae Ho Chang is freeware, so what are you waiting for? You'll find it at http://www.xs4all.nl/~jaeho/FinderNote/ .
 
'Warehouse Trivia Contest
  This month we're giving away three copies of List Pad, Taylor
Design's excellent list manager. To enter, send an email with your
answers to brian@applewizards.net with the word "Contest" in the subject line.
The 5 'Warehouse Trivia Questions for June, 1998
1. In the Finder, what key combination creates a new folder?
2. Who directed "1984," the original Macintosh commercial?
3. What was the name of the original dogcow?
4. Name the 3 companies who developed the PowerPC.
5. And finally, the better browser: Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer?
The winner of the 'Warehouse Trivia Contest for April was Richard Hallowell, who won a copy of Eden Sherry's Scroll Magick. (By the way, Scroll Magick has been renamed Scrollability, and is still available from http://www.edenware.com/ for $10.)
