PSPad editor 5.0.7.775

Overview

PSPad is a free text and code editor. It is very lightweight and easy to use, packed with all of the features that any editor should have and even more. Those include rich text-formatting functions, spell checking, FTP support, syntax highlighting with support for languages like HTML, PHP, Pascal, Javascript, VBScript, Perl and others. It can also be used as a full HEX editor.

Installation

If you don’t want to go through the process of installing the program you can download the ZIP archive and extract its contents. Then you can run the executable from the folder with the extracted files. Choosing to install the program is not much difficult though. At some point during installation you are asked which features you want to include, like code clips, syntax highlighting definitions, secure FTP libraries support and translations. Installation will start a couple of steps afterwards and will not take much time to finish, but just before the end a window will open and prompt you to install Babylon Toolbar, make Babylon Search your browser’s homepage and set Babylon as the default search.

Any Windows OS is supported, but the last version of PSPad supporting Windows 95 is 4.2.5.

Interface

It has a simple interface that isn’t too difficult to get used to. The editor is located in the center and takes up most space in the window. On the left is the tool panel which has a few tabs for managing your files. The first tab is for viewing the current project’s files, followed by the file explorer, next to it is the FTP file manager, the favorites tab and the last tab is for viewing the open files if you’re working with more than one. A lot of toolbars are located below the menu bar, but everything can be positioned elsewhere or completely removed.

Pros

Syntax highlight is provided for numerous languages: C/C++, CSS, FORTRAN, HTML, Java, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python, VB, XML and many others. If you’re working with HTML, you can preview your file using IE and Mozilla. TiDy library is supported for formatting, checking your HTML code and converting to XML, CSS and XHTML.

PSPad has a HEX editor mode, which changes the editor’s layout to add byte columns and an ASCII text column, like a normal HEX editor. It also has a comparison tool to compare files and find their differences.

With the built-in FTP Client you can access your files remotely from your FTP server without the need to use external FTP software.

Cons

When working with large files (larger than 1 GB) it becomes slow and sometimes unresponsive. But for most files it works without lagging at all.

Alternatives

Webuilder (shareware) is a decent editor with powerful functions, although it lacks some of PSPad’s features like the comparison tool. Geany is less functional than both WeBuilder and PSPad but it is very lightweight and smooth. It is ideal for small projects and quick editing. UltraEdit has some unique features but it is not very easy to use compared to PSPad.

Conclusion

While PSPad is not perfect, it is on the right track of becoming one of the most popular editors for everyone. Right now it mostly used by average users, but it is possible that in the future it will be a fine choice for professionals too.