Using Windows Notepad

Windows Notepad is included with all versions of Windows and works very well to create and edit HTML files. To run Windows Notepad:

1. Click the Start button and select Programs (in Windows XP, select More Programs, unless you've chosen to use the "classic" interface, which works the same as Windows 98).

2. Select Accessories and select Notepad.

Using SimpleText on the Macintosh

The SimpleText text editor is included with Mac OS 8 and 9. To run SimpleText:

1. Double-click the Macintosh HD icon and the Applications icon.

2. Double-click the SimpleText icon.

In OS X on the Macintosh, SimpleText has been replaced by a new native OS X application, TextEdit. SimpleText is still available, however, in the folder of OS 9 applications. Expect it to take a while to load, however, since the OS 9-emulator has to be opened first.

Using TextEdit in Mac OS X

As mentioned above, the Mac OS X platform has replaced the Simple-Text text editor with TextEdit. Just use the Finder to locate and run TextEdit.

TextEdit, however, does not default to saving straight text files, which is necessary if you want to save HTML files (since HTML files are just straight text files). Instead, TextEdit defaults to saving text files in RTF (Rich Text Format), a binary file format that can't be displayed in a Web browser. It will also parse and render formatting in an HTML file when you open it (displaying a heading in larger text, rather than displaying the heading codes), unless you tell it not to. To set TextEdit to default to saving files as plain text files and to opening HTML files as straight text files (showing the raw HTML codes), you need to edit its Preferences window and make these changes:

1. Under New Document Format, select the Plain text radio button.

2. To cause long text lines to wrap, check the Wrap to Page check box.

3. Under Saving, uncheck the Append ".txt" extension to plain text files check box.

4. Under Rich Text Processing, check the Ignore rich text commands in HTML files check box.

Then just save your text files with an ".html" extension and they'll be saved as plain text files (ASCII text files) that can be opened and displayed in a Web browser.

Using Unix/Linux Text Editors

There is no one text editor that is guaranteed to be available on all Unix/Linux systems. Most systems, however, should have either the vi or the emacs text editor available. The vi text editor, however, is not very user-friendly—it requires that you switch between insert and command mode, and depends upon the keyboard for all operations. A better choice is the emacs text editor, if it is available with your system, since it does not require switching between insert and command modes. A version of emacs, xemacs, may also be available, which provides a GUI (Graphical User Interface). There are many other text editors available for Unix and Linux, so you're not limited in your choices. For information on where to find additional freeware and shareware text editors for Unix and Linux, see the next section.

Using More Advanced Text Editors

When first learning HTML or developing a relatively simple Web site, you shouldn't need anything other than a simple text editor, such as Notepad or SimpleText, for instance. If you want to go beyond creating a relatively simple Web site, however, you may benefit from additional features that more sophisticated text editors can provide, such as multi-windows, search-and-replace, bookmarks, spell-checkers, line numbering, word count, file compare, and more.

FIND IT ONLINE
There are many freeware and shareware text editors that are available for download on the Web. You can find and download additional freeware and shareware text editors for Windows, Macintosh OS 8/9, Macintosh OS X, and Unix/Linux at TuCows at www.tucows.com/.