Microsoft has announced Edit, a new open source command-line text editor in Windows. The editor will be available in preview in the Windows Insider Program "in the coming months" before shipping as part of Windows 11. 

If you're experiencing deja vu, you're not wrong, there is a command line text editor in 32-bit Windows in the form of the the MS-DOS editor. The need for a default CLI text editor in 64-bit versions of Windows is behind this introduction.

Microsoft wanted to provide its own CLI editor, though there's an argument that this is meeting a need that isn't there given the availability of options such as Vim and Nano. However, the security of knowing that there's a straightforward editor available for any Windows install you sit down at is a significant benefit.

The GitHub page for Edit says:

"This editor pays homage to the classic MS-DOS Editor, but with a modern interface and input controls similar to VS Code. The goal is to provide an accessible editor that even users largely unfamiliar with terminals can easily use."

Explaining Microsoft's thinking further, Christopher Nguyen, the product manager for Windows Terminal, said that Microsoft wanted to avoid stumbling blocks for programmers, and to have an editor that was small enough to bundle with every version of Windows. The size of potential existing choices was one reason Microsoft decided against them. The new tool is small and lightweight at less than 250kB, and is written in Rust. Other considerations included the need for decent Unicode support, and a focus on VT output rather than Console APIs to allow for seamless integration with the secure shell, SSH. 

The Edit interface provides both keybindings for all menu items, and mouse support. You can open multiple files in Edit and switch between them, and editing options include find and replace text with Match Case and Regular Expression support. Word wrap is also supported, but there's no right-click options.  

The source code for Edit has been released under the MIT license, and while Edit hasn't yet been added to the stable channel of Windows 11, it is already available on Microsoft's GitHub page. 

More Information

Edit On GitHub

Related Articles

Nano 8 Adds Modern Bindings And Cycle Function

VIM In The Browser - The Magic of WASM

Emacs 27.1 Adds Native JSON Parsing

//No Comment - Vim And EMACs

Which Code Editor Do Devs Prefer?

To be informed about new articles on I Programmer, sign up for our weekly newsletter, subscribe to the RSS feed and follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin.

Comments

Make a Comment or View Existing Comments Using Disqus

or email your comment to: comments@i-programmer.info