Although Microsoft has improved Notepad to let users customise font and preserve Word Wrap settings between sessions, it continues to be plagued by the absence of a search-and-replace feature and an inability to handle files much bigger than 45KB. If you want a good replacement, try EditPad, a nimble text editor for Windows 9x and NT. EditPad overcomes the traditional Notepad limitations and provides additional features, including tools for converting text between upper and lower case, changing tabs to spaces and vice versa, saving as e-mail (if you have appropriate MAPI server software, such as Microsoft Exchange or Outlook), and customising colours. The tabbed interface makes it easy to see which documents are open and to switch between them in a flash. Technically, this is not freeware -- you must send a thank you paper postcard to its author, Jan Goyvaerts. The program is available from www.jgsoft.com.

-- Scott Dunn