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Create and edit text documents with the latest editing features

Create and edit text documents with the latest editing features

Vote: (83 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: Studiojeroen

Version: 5.5.1

Works under: Mac

Also available for Android

Vote:

Program license

(83 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

Studiojeroen

5.5.1

Works under:

Also available for

Mac

Android

Pros

  • Fast
  • Lightweight
  • Uses native OS X widgets

Cons

  • Lacks spelling and grammar checkers
  • Very basic UI
  • Doesn't support all Macintosh-specific keyboard shortcuts

WordPad is a clone of the popular Windows word processor that uses the native OS X toolkit to run on Macintosh computers without an emulation layer.

Windows users who've recently made the big switch and finally moved to the Macintosh environment are often dismayed to find they don't have access to WordPad by default. While the app is ubiquitous in the PC world, it's not available on OS X or even the newer macOS platform. Those who find themselves missing it can install this copy, which has the same look and feel of the classic app.

Formatting text is done in the same way that you would have in Windows 95. Users can click on a color wheel and a font dialog, which gives them the freedom to select whatever formatting options they'd prefer. This design is quite different from any of Apple's current official apps, but it makes the program extremely lightweight.

As a result, it runs far more quickly than any full-featured word process. While it won't give fancy features like a spell checker or the ability to automatically create hyperlinks, the intended audience won't need these features. You can easily copy and paste content from other apps that have these features anyway. Once you have, you can save a document in one of several formats.

In a way, that also makes WordPad an effective eBook reader. Since quite a bit of technical documentation was once put out in Microsoft's native formats, users can even turn to WordPad as a way to read that kind of content on Apple-branded devices.

There's also plenty to like here for long-time Mac users. SimpleText and TeachText haven't been included with new Macintosh computers in years. While some people continue to use Apple's open-source TextEdit app to fill the void left by these two important programs, they might find that WordPad is a much better fit. It's certainly lighter, which makes it suitable for users of older MacBook systems.

Since WordPad doesn't extensively rely on data stored in resource forks, it can also be a handy way to exchange files over a network if the other people in your workgroup use Windows or GNU/Linux.

Pros

  • Fast
  • Lightweight
  • Uses native OS X widgets

Cons

  • Lacks spelling and grammar checkers
  • Very basic UI
  • Doesn't support all Macintosh-specific keyboard shortcuts