The Portable Freeware Collection Forums

As I am currently on Windows XP, I was unable to test OSS BowPad, a novel editor with 32 and 64 bit versions, featuring highlighting capabilities and sporting the (much loathed) ribbon interface (found via Freewarefiles.com, which lists portable variants for both versions at http://www.freewarefiles.com/BowPad-Por ... 91717.html).

• [url=http://stefanstools.sourceforge.net/BowPad.html]http://stefanstools.sourceforge.net/BowPad.html[/url] author wrote:BowPad is a small and fast text editor with a ribbon user interface and syntax highlighting.

  [url=http://stefanstools.sourceforge.net/BowPad.html]http://stefanstools.sourceforge.net/BowPad.html[/url] author wrote: Windows 7 required: BowPad requires Windows 7 or later. It won't work on Windows XP! Or if you're using Vista, you have to install the Platform Update for Windows Vista.

BowPad current version is v1.0.6 and its homesite is at http://stefanstools.sourceforge.net/BowPad.html.

• • 

Not a lot of functionality compared to the alternatives out there.

> sporting the (much loathed) ribbon interface

I'm sure some folks prefer it. Plus, I get the sense that developers who are just starting out would benefit from an interface like this. Everything very clear and obvious. Notepad++ for example rewards you for digging into it's nice coding features, but you still have to dig.

> won't work on Windows XP

Odd to see a developer tool that only works natively on one platform. One of the things I frequently like about many developer tools is a near-ignorance of the platform they're under (which is ideal).

webfork wrote:One of the things I frequently like about many developer tools is a near-ignorance of the platform they're under (which is ideal).

Agree 100%, that's why I always note when something is availalble for more than one OS -- in an ideal world, my portables would run everywhere... (as long they're not Java based, which is conveniently multi-platform, but has proved time and time again to be a real PITA for me).

Tested: Portable

settings file in \BowPad64-1.0.6-portable\bin\release64\bin

BowPad v2.0.4 released (changelog at http://stefanstools.sourceforge.net/BowPad_history.html).

Note: 64 bits version available, check http://sourceforge.net/projects/stefans ... Pad/2.0.4/...

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Admittedly the ribbon interface is a bit clunky; blame MS, not BowPad's developer. However, once you get used to the interface or work around it by creating some keyboard shortcuts (the configuration file is available after the first run), BowPad is actually very powerful and quite easy to use. It's also 100% portable if you download the Zip archive instead of the installer.

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http://gbusch.altervista.org

BowPad is at version 2.0.10:

•Improved the file tree
•Fixed problem when opening BowPad with a right-click in explorer from a folder background

http://stefanstools.sourceforge.net/BowPad_history.html

Added to db
VOTE: http://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?id=2683

Edited entry and voted.