How to Run Notepad On Mac Because of extensively Notepad relies on Win32 API, there are two possible ways how to run it on macOS: rewrite it so that it doesnt rely on Win32 API anymore, or provide it the necessary API. Porting Notepad to another operating system would also break the compatibility with most plugins, essentially fragmenting the Notepad community. If Notepad were a commercial project, theres a chance that it would make a sense to develop and maintain a separate version for macOS (and Linux), but its free and open source, so the motivation is limited. Its also responsible for that instantly recognizable Windows look and feel that many long-term users of the operating system find so appealing. Win32 API consists of many components, including things like file systems, devices, processes, threads, and error handling.

Notepad relies extensively on Win32 API, the 32-bit application programming interface for modern versions of Windows. You might think that Notepad Mac isnt available because its also not possible to download Notepad for Mac, but thats not the real reason why.

Why Is Notepad Mac Not Available Unfortunately, its impossible to download Notepad for Mac. It has also won a number of prestigious awards including the Best Programming Text Editor for Windows award from Lifehacker in 20. This free open source library supports many features to make code editing easier in addition to error indicators, line numbering in the margin, as well as line markers such as code breakpoints.īecause of its extensive features, support for 84 languages, and free price, Notepad was voted as the most used text editor worldwide with 34.7 percent of 26,086 respondents on Stack Overflow claiming to use it daily. Its written in C and based on powerful editing component Scintilla. Notepad is free and open source, first released in 2003 by Don Ho. It supports several programming languages and features syntax highlighting, syntax folding, PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular Expression) searchreplace, auto-completion, multi-document editing, WYSIWYG printing, zoom in and zoom out, bookmarks, macro recording and playback, and more.

Download notepad++ for mac os