Miscellaneous Ramblings
The Future of Tex-Edit Plus on the Mac
Charles Moore - 2011.01.17 - Tip Jar
Popularity: 
Short link: http://bit.ly/hsyVhN
It's difficult for me to pick an all-time favorite Mac application. Different types of software do different things for you. However, for me, Tex-Edit Plus (TE+) has to be one of the strongest contenders. (For more on why Moore loves Tex-Edit Plus, see Tex-Edit Plus: Powerful Styled Text Editing for OS X and the Classic Mac OS, Using Tex-Edit Plus and AppleScript for HTML Markup and his review of Tex-Edit Enhancer. ed)
Since the mid-late 1990s, Tex-Edit Plus - described by its developer as a "scriptable, styled text editor that fills the gap between Apple's bare-bones SimpleText and a full-featured word processor" - has been my main text crunching tool and general dogsbody program.
The vast bulk of my archives and much of my research materials are stored in Tex-Edit documents. Most of my composing, editing, and HTML markup has been done in Tex-Edit Plus for about 15 years now. It's been fast, slick, versatile, and reliable, and its close integration with and support of AppleScript has made it a joy and a pleasure to use, as well as a big-time efficiency enhancer.
Another thing I love about TE+ is its backward compatibility. The latest OS X version of the application fully supports documents I created on Tex-Edit some 15 years ago, and as a matter of fact I use the last PowerPC version of the app most of the time with Classic Mode in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger on my Pismo PowerBooks, mainly because there's an auto-scrolling app I find useful that's never been released in an OS X version.
Consequently, I was dismayed when the Trans-Tex Software website, home of Tex-Edit Plus, dropped from the Internet for a few days in early January. Tex-Edit Plus hadn't been updated for a long time, although it has been working so well and is such an integral part of my workflow, I guess I just began taking it for granted.
I dashed off an email to Tex-Edit Plus developer Tom Bender, who got back to me directly, explaining that there had been some sort of glitch with his website hosting service and that the Trans-Tex site was already back online, which it was when I checked.
Sigh of relief. I don't know what I would do without Tex-Edit Plus. There are other good text editors, word processors, and HTML authoring applications out there, but none that combines all three plus the highly-integrated and easily customizable TE+ implementation of AppleScript in one neat and comprehensive package that pretty well does everything I need a text application to do.
However, while Tex-Edit Plus still works just fine in Mac OS X 10.6.6 Snow Leopard, it is a Carbon application with a few Cocoa elements grafted on, and I expect that at some point Apple will pull the plug on Carbon support. So it was good to hear from Tom that although he's been quite busy with other developments in his life for the past couple of years and has not had enough time to invest the quality time he needs to finish Tex-Edit Plus's conversion to Cocoa yet, he's planning on having more time any day now - although those plans could change due to forces beyond his control.
I also asked Tom whether he had any plans to migrate Tex-Edit Plus to the Mac App Store, noting that while I have some misgivings and reservations about Apple's "walled garden", it seems to be an attractive proposition for shareware developers. He observed that he might be interested it's non-exclusive, although being a bit of a nonconformist, he hopes the Mac App Store never becomes the only way to purchase software for the Mac.
Me too. Glad he feels that way.
In the meantime, I'm eagerly anticipating that Cocoa-native version
of Tex-Edit Plus, whenever it arrives.
Join us on Facebook!, follow us on Twitter, use our Google+ page, or read our RSS news feed
Charles Moore has been a freelance journalist since 1987 and began writing for Mac websites in May 1998. His The Road Warrior column was a regular feature on MacOpinion, and he is a news editor and columnist at Applelinks.com. If you find his articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.
Recent articles by Charles W. Moore
- Avoiding Lion, Apple Refurb Value, Why Millennials Might Be Avoiding Cars, and More, Charles Moore's Mailbag, 2012.04.17. Also browsers and writing tools for iPad users.
- Could an Apple iCar Ignite Automotive Enthusiasm for Car-Indifferent Millennials?, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2012.04.10. Millennials seem far less interested in cars than prior generations. Could an Apple-themed car reverse that trend?
- Looking Back on 13 Years of Writing for Low End Mac, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2012.04.06. Charles Moore has been writing for Low End Mac since 1999 and seen a lot of changes - but not in the Low End Mac philosophy.
- More in the Miscellaneous Ramblings index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Mac Plus, introduced 1986.01.16. The first Mac with SCSI, memory expansion, an 800K floppy. Longest model life - over 4 years.
- May 24 in LEM history: 99: Mac sales up, iMac sales down? - 01: Speeding up digital photography - 02: The Internet, research, and plagiarism - 04: NewerTech TiBook battery - Optical mice from Contour - 06: Power Mac today or Intel tomorrow? - 07: G5: Apple's last fling with PowerPC - G3: From 233 MHz to 1.1 GHz
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Lion and the End of Bootable OS X Installers, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 2012.05.23. Mac OS X Lion is only available as an upgrade from Snow Leopard. Is this the end of bootable installers from Apple?
- Mac Pro on the Way Out or Changing with the Times?, Dan Bashur, Apple, Tech, and Gaming, 2012.05.22. No other desktop Mac offers a wide range of expansion options, but is that enough reason for Apple to keep the behemoth powerhouse Mac Pro around?
- iPhone 3D: Stereo Photography and 3D Movies for the Rest of Us, Anne Onymus, The Rumor Mill, 2012.05.22. Until now, stereo photography and 3D movies required expensive dedicated equipment. With the iPhone 3D, Apple will make it available to the masses.
- iPad 2 'Feels Like an Upgrade' from New iPad, Samsung Tops Apple in Smartphone Market, and More, iOS News Review, 2012.05.21. Also Apple to maintain tablet dominance, working in portrait mode, Wozniak would like to see end of walled garden, and more.
- MacBook Airs Top Ultrabooks, Boost MacBook Performance, MacBook Pro Update in June?, and More, The 'Book Review, 2012.05.21. Also Retina displays available now but costly, USB 3 expected in next MacBook rev, hybrid drives an affordable alternative to SSDs, and more.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Deals
- Best eMac Deals
- Best 17" MacBook Pro Deals
- Best MacBook Air Deals
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals
- Best iPad Deals
- Best iPod classic Deals
- Best Mac OS X 10.6, iLife, and iWork Deals
- More deals in our archive.
About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact
Follow
Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac
on Facebook
Low End Mac Reader Specials
Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Macpokeronline.com will show you how to download and play Poker on a Mac natively on your Mac in just minutes.
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
Cult of Mac
Shrine of Apple
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac Museum
Deal Brothers
DealMac
Mac2Sell
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End Mac FAQ
Affiliates
Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay
