rcmnd

TextEditSoftware

by Apple

Who uses, recommends or left TextEdit, in their own words: each a verbatim quote with a link to where it was said.

4 people

Jeffrey Zeldman
Web designer and writer; founded A List Apart and Happy Cog, co-founded the An Event Apart conference, and wrote Designing With Web Standards.
loved

I love TextEdit because it doesn't get in my way, doesn't offer features I don't need, and doesn't take longer than a second to open. In fact I keep it open most of the time.

His written "Uses This" interview, from Happy Cog and A List Apart.

2009-11-13·usesthis.com ↗

Jessica Hische
Letterer, illustrator and type designer; creator of Daily Drop Cap and of many hand-lettered book covers.
liked

I mostly use TextEdit as a word processor (it's just simple and easy (and "free")).

The Setup (usesthis.com) interview: her studio and travel machines and the design software she letters with.

2011-02-15·usesthis.com ↗

Douglas Rushkoff
Media theorist and writer; author of Program or Be Programmed and Team Human, and host of the Team Human podcast.
uses

Articles happen in Word, but I'm leaving it behind more and more, and just writing in Textedit to save myself all the time and energy associated with Microsoft.

His Uses This interview, on writing, audio gear and his reasons for leaving software behind.

2011-10-24·usesthis.com ↗

Michael Lopp
Engineering manager who has worked at Apple, Netscape, Slack and Palantir; writes as Rands at randsinrepose.com and wrote Managing Humans.
uses

For writing first drafts, I use TextEdit and have done so for the writing of two books. I've tried a variety of different writing applications, but they always distract me from doing what I love which is writing.

His written "Uses This" interview, covering his "coffee shop rig" and "home rig".

2010-07-09·usesthis.com ↗

What they also use

Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.

The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.

A dashed affiliate link, sponsored or their own label means the post disclosed a relationship. It is shown, never hidden.

The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.

The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.

What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:

Stripes mean the post carries no date and the date shown is an estimate. No date at all, no shading.