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MBCook
krackers
Don't forget TextMate, CotEditor, Chocolat. There are so many mac-native text editors that it's a crowded space for a new entrant sporting a distinctively un-mac-like UX.
internet2000
New switcher on his brand new MacBook Neo who doesn't want to learn Mac apps and conventions? Guaranteed this person uses a Windows "Alt-tab" style switcher app too.
wink
It sounds like you think this is a bad thing.
The tab switching is one of the main things that annoy me on a mac, and I'd describe myself as a linux tiling window person first, windows user only second.
Also my mac usage is hopefully only temporary, so why adopt to this - to me - inferior way.
And jftr, I don't plan to use this - I kinda like NPP, but I prefer to use TextAdept on Linux and Mac for notes anyway (and not vim, which is weird, but I guess I am weird with my choices).
undefined
yborg
Can confirm, friend who moved to Mac after 30+ years on Win ecosystem and all of the discussions we have are basically "but on Windows..." They specifically have lamented the unavailability of Notepad++ because of a specific hanging indent behavior they are used to.
Most people do not have the cognitive flexibility to really adapt to a tool that is more or less domain equivalent but different in any way. These small differences create more friction than learning something that doesn't have any close mapping to what you knew before.
tritiy
wants to use something familiar => does not have cognitive flexibility
It's amazing how people find ways to flaunt their 'superiority'.
dnnddidiej
Cuts both ways too. I am finding Windoews harder due to using the mac as daily driver. Haven't got the hang of finder yet. I use CLI as much as possible making use rare enough not to master.
denalii
Granted I've only been using MacOS for a few years as my work machine, but am I missing something here? Is the Mac CMD+tab already not nearly identical to to windows alt+tab? Are you just referring to the switcher switching through apps vs windows?
marmarama
Window previews when switching are also a nice thing when doing heavy multitasking.
There are a few things MacOS X inherited from classic MacOS that I don't think work that well in the modern world, and application-focused task switching is one of them. It made sense in the classic Mac context where many apps used floating windows for toolboxes and other non-document windows. You wanted to switch the whole application, with all of its windows, as a unit. It was also the right technical decision with classic MacOS's modest multitasking abilities.
But the world has since mostly standardised on SDI app design with tools contained within that window, and multiple windows representing different documents. In that context, the macOS app-then-window approach is more roundabout than pure window switching. You get used to it, but when you've got a lot of windows open, it's a small but ever-present drag on usability.
Alt-Tab is one of the first things I install on a new Mac. Hopefully one day Apple will give us a built-in option, much like they eventually did with window tiling and full-screen window zooming.
MBCook
On Windows alt-tab moves through windows.
On Mac cmd-tab moves through applications. You need cmd-~ to move through an application’s windows.
It’s a small difference but one that really breaks muscle memory.
MBCook
Why switch? Thats a huge part of the Mac. The design, UI, and UX conventions exist for a reason.
If you’re going to spend all your time fighting them you’re in for a rough spell.
baranul
Porting Windows apps that people like, helps MacBook sales, not hurt them. That certain people use their MacBook in a different way should not be a concern of other users, as at least they are using MacBooks.
s_trumpet
Notepad++ has incredibly easy to use macros with the record/play buttons in the toolbar. It is my preferred tool for quickly munging text files especially ones where you want to change formatting through the file.
brandonmenc
Why do anything?
steve1977
Yeah this feels similar to PowerShell on Linux.
Is it possible? Sure.
Does it make sense? Not really.
j45
It doesn’t have to be for everyone.
Lots of people use both operating systems, or stretched from one to the other.
Socrates is about choice, just because I might not see the understanding in something doesn’t mean there isn’t any understanding in it.
MBCook
I use both operating systems. I hate using things that don’t follow platform standards. It makes them more confusing and causes extra cognitive load.
I simply see no benefit of a copy of very Windows-y app. It’s pure MDI with buttons in a toolbar. It’s a perfect example of a 3.1/95 style app.
It’s not like it has special features missing from the great many editors on Mac. If you want a “same everywhere” experience I’d think you’d want something that sort of lives in its own world like VSCode. It’s not native style anywhere, exactly. But it’s very powerful and popular.
In many cases I get “I want the app I like over here”. I really do. Especially if there is something really special about its design or feature set. In my experience with Notepad++, I have never wished to have it on my Mac once.
slidehero
>I simply see no benefit of a copy of very Windows-y app.
That's cool, sounds like it's not for you then.
There are plenty of people who would appreciate it though.
I've been using N++ for a long time. I have tried just about every editor out there and I always end up back in N++.
It's old. It is missing a lot of the bells and whistles of newer editors, but I'm still most productive in old faithful :)
tuwtuwtuwtuw
Do you see that other people might no share your view and instead find this useful?
vict7
First I've heard of Nova. I have used Transmit--also made by Panic--and was impressed with the UX there. I'll have to give Nova a spin.
p_ing
> This project is an independent open-source community port of Notepad++ to macOS
Import note.
theanonymousone
My "Notepad++ for Mac" so far has been NotepadNext (https://github.com/dail8859/NotepadNext). I will give this one a try as well, and wish them best of luck. I hope they release the Linux version as well.
vunderba
I know that the original Notepad++ is under GPLv2 so creating an open-source port is perfectly acceptable, but the Notepad++ name itself is trademarked by Don Ho, so calling itself "Notepad++" (for Mac) along with using an almost identical icon feels like it's crossing some boundaries.
eurleif
>Notepad++ name itself is trademarked by Don Ho
Is it? I can't find a trademark registration on the USPTO site.
vunderba
On closer look, I think you’re right. I also tried searching the USPTO trademark database by author and by product name and couldn’t find anything. I don’t know why I thought he had trademarked it. Maybe it could qualify as a common law trademark, but I’m really not sure as this is well outside my area of expertise.
alduino
From a quick glance Don Ho looks to be based in France, and a search of their trademark registry gives a current result for Notepad++: https://data.inpi.fr/marques/FR5133202
NOTpadpp
There is a crippling lack of note on the fact this is unofficial
dnnddidiej
Same logo too is misleading.
phpdave11
I’ve been using Notepad Next on Mac: https://github.com/dail8859/NotepadNext
bsdooby
That's the "true"/original version; for Notepad++-like experience on macOS.
r00t-
This was definitely vibe coded, even the landing page.
ziml77
Oh for sure. Just look at the "Author" page. It says he started in March 2026 on this. Which means last month he pointed Claude to the Notepad++ repo and said "make a native port of this to macOS".
Tomte
You can simply look at the GitHub repo where most of the commits say $Name and Claude
notepad0x90
that's lazy commentary. prove it. and prove why that matters in this specific context. If you're going to shit on someone's work, have a good reason.
macki0
Proof: https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus-mac/notepad-plus-plus-m...
Every single commit says ‘and claude’
demetris
That is not necessarily proof.
Sometimes I am too lazy to think of a good commit message, so I have a custom command that tells the assistant to do this:
Commit umstaged changes with a nice clean message summary and no full message.
By default, Claude Code co-signs those commits (which I do not like at all as a default).
elheffe80
At home I have a MacBook, but everything else I use is Linux. At work, I am stuck on windows 99% of the time for most work. I manage Linux systems, but mostly through the windows desktop. I use notepad++ every single day. I lamented not having it on my Mac, but every replacement is not... right? comfortable? implemented right? I don't know. Still haven't found something that does what little I use in notepad++ and I can tell you now this app's ui is not what I am looking for.
manbart
Wish there was a Linux port too
qalmakka
haspok
No plugins? Those are what give NP++ its real power and usability - for example I use the XML and JSON pretty print functionality daily (on Windows, on my work machine).
Otherwise Kate or Gedit are just fine for Linux.
bsdooby
Yes. My comment above.
jeffnash
After seeing how quickly those hooligans re-wrote Claude Code in Rust from the leaked sourcemap, I actually made a spec-driven Linux port using Claude Code, Kimi, and Codex just to see if it was possible.
Frankly, I thought I was the only human being on earth who used Arch but missed the comforting embrace of Notepad++, so I'm happy to share the fruits of my ~$200 worth of tokens if there's interest!
yjftsjthsd-h
I thought it runs well in WINE? Not that a native port wouldn't be better, but that's pretty good.
idonotknowwhy
I used to use something called “notepadqq”. Not sure if it’s still around but it was a Linux port.
cromka
There's an official Notepad next, as others noted
ulfw
I like how it's a native Mac app and looks 0% like a Mac app whatsoever. Also the scaling is off on my Macbook Pro. Everything looks half as big as it should be. Tiny fonts, tiny tiny icon bar.
Wow.
thrdbndndn
Well TBF, the original Notepad++ isn't too good in this regard either.
Whenever I opened a N++ window in a remote desktop session and leave it open, and then use the same computer in-person, the whole UI of that window becomes a blurry mess and the boundary of the window is off (as in, if you maximize the window, moving the cursor to the top-right will actually not land on X.), which I assume it because of changing resolution/scaling between remote and in-person use.
johnturk
We can ask the guy to fix the toolbar icons which I'm sure he can easily do but then it may loose the authentic look. Need to vote.
undefined
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Why? I get it’s popular on Windows. But it’s so incredibly Windows-y, not Mac like at all. And we already have BBEdit and Nova.
Perhaps the site answers past “you like it here it is”, but at the moment we appear to have slashdotted them.