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143 points sathishmanohar | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.203s | source
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chankstein38 ◴[] No.35530862[source]
So what actually is this? Reading through it, the description sounds like it's basically notepad? Why would I use this instead of notepad except for some sort of aesthetic of working in the terminal?
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LeoPanthera ◴[] No.35531628[source]
It’s a word processor. Notepad is a text editor. They are not the same thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_processor

I think a lot of people have forgotten that “word processors” were originally mechanical devices, and then electrical and electronic devices, before ultimately becoming software.

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c-smile ◴[] No.35531742[source]
It is not a word processor in common sense.

Difference between Word Processor and text editor is in WYSIWYG mode of operation. At least for most of people.

Like my Sciter.Notes (https://notes.sciter.com) has better chances to be named as Word Processor as its primary mode is WYSIWYG. It also supports WordGrinder alike mode (Markdown editing) so users can chose what mode is more suitable for particular document type.

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1. themadturk ◴[] No.35546528[source]
Word processors give control over page layout and text formatting, even if in pre-graphical days they didn't provide preview of that formatting in real time. Text editors don't give you any such control.

There is a whole school of thought about separating the creation of content from the formatting of content. Some think modern word processors impose an expectation that the creator of content also needs to format that content. Modern word processors like Microsoft Word enforce this by applying default formatting and presentation settings to all documents, and in doing so reduce compatibility and increase file size. If you don't like Microsoft's defaults, you have to go through the effort of changing those defaults, and learn to create and save the default template unless you want to manually make changes every time you create a new document. None of this has anything to do with the creation of content, only with its appearance, which of course may be important to you.

In non-WYSIWYG word processors, formatting and page layout are governed by configuration settings, embedded codes, etc. Files created in Word 5.0 weren't readable in WordPerfect 4.2, for example, unless conversion software was used.

Text editors impose no formatting at all, unless you consider default character set and line endings "formatting." You can change the appearance on the screen if you want, but the file you create has no native font style, no character or paragraph formatting, and your choices of appearance make no difference if you open your file in another editor. You don't need a word processor to create your content; you can easily open your text file in Word or Pages to format the document as needed.