TextEdit may not have the power of Microsoft Word, or the pizazz of Apple’s Pages, but the humble little word processor that comes with OS X has a lot going for it. While it doesn’t do templates and other fancy things that the others do, it’s more than up to the job for many word-processing needs.
Not only is TextEdit cost efficient (it’s free!), but it absolutely flies out of the starting blocks when you open it: you barely have time to blink before you’re ready to start typing. It can handle Word’s proprietary DOC and DOCX files, and it supports Lion’s Autosave and Versions features, which Word 2011 doesn’t. TextEdit also includes a full spelling and grammar check (under Edit > Spelling and Grammar), a Find and Replace tool (also in the Edit menu), and rulers that you can use to align text just the way you want it. It’s chock full of features that you may have forgotten exist, so let’s refresh your memory as we show you how to utilize some of its key features.
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dwboston
June 11, 2012 at 5:46am
The writer talks about TextEdit "flying out of the starting blocks at the blink of an eye". This was quite true in the TextEdit of the Snow Leopard days, but the writer must have a very slow blink. The new TextEdit under Lion is several times slower than the old version. Click on that red close button and you can wait several seconds for Text Edit to respond, (on several different MACS). And Apple has added a very bizarre and confusing saving protocol which sends the user to the web to figure out what the "saving a version" actually does. And gone are the simple days when you could simply "save as" somewhere else on your computer. Apple has done similar damage to Preview where "saving as" now must be performed as an export if you want to change the format of the file. Is Apple going the microsoft route with its once beautifully simple installed applications? Can we expect Apple software to become the bloatware that Adobe and Microsoft have become famous for?
edwinblaw
June 10, 2012 at 1:14pm
Would love to use Text Edit for my "Notes' which are 5.5x8.5 (1/2 of letter size). Much quicker than Pages.
but ... the least margin is 1" thus reducing writing width to 3.5. and height to 6.5. If a header, "A Note from" and a footer "address and phone" added, the remaining vertical space is only 5.5.
Prior to 10.7 I used 0.5 margins all around and it was really cool for typed or scribbled notes.
Your article doesn't mention margins although they theoretically can be set in File>Page set up>custom paper size. NOT!!! has no effect!
Talked with Applecare Advisor and he confirmed .. nothing less than 1"
cat341
May 01, 2012 at 1:08pm
I use TextEdit as a scratchpad for all kinds of notes. Save it dropbox, and the notes come with me whereever I go (which means no need to use the iOS notes program).
It's also good for simple coding -- css, javascript, html, etc. For the more complicated stuff I kick it up to Komodo Edit.
Geoduck
May 01, 2012 at 12:37pm
TextEdit is great!
I use it for the first draft, and in a lot of cases final draft too, of most of my writing, whether for my blog, or essays, or work related, or fiction. I use it to open documents with odd file types. I use it for shopping lists to preliminary web page layout. I've even used it to edit code that then gets cut and pasted into another app.
TextEdit and Preview are likely the used Apps on my Mac.
