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From day one, the Mac has come with a word processor. Except for
MacWrite, which shipped with the earliest Mac, they were usually
pretty useless, except maybe HTML editing, viewing ReadMe files, and
creating universal .txt files. They've improved over the years, from
TeachText, to SimpleText, to TextEdit in OS X.
Due to the reputation of its older relatives, TextEdit is usually
overlooked.
Abilities
TextEdit is surprisingly powerful, although few activate its
hidden features. It uses the somewhat standard RTF format for
formatted documents and .txt for plain text. Besides it being a
really Cocoa application - allowing the full compliment of OS X
goodies (Text Palette, Color Picker, Services, Quartz, etc.) - it
boasts (or merely whispers) some features that AppleWorks doesn't
have, such as spell-check-as-you-type and multiple-level undoes.
Granted, it is missing some features that are found in Word and
AppleWorks, but for most things it's rather useful. I've switched
from the aging AppleWorks 6 to TextEdit, not only because it's more
stable, but it "matches" OS X better. Hopefully the word
processing module of the rumored "iWorks" suite will be a more
powerful version of this.
TextEdit as a Real Word Processor
TextEdit is pretty bland to begin with - there are a few things
you'll need to do to make it comparable to anything (this assumes
you're using Jaguar - if you have 10.1, the instructions are a
little different). First, open the preferences, and choose Rich
Text and Wrap to Page under New Document Attributes.
Next, set your default fonts, and pick Check spelling as you
type and Show ruler under Editing.
By pressing command-R, you will see a ruler, not unlike that in
most word processors, complete with alignment, line spacing, and
tabs. It's a bit plain, but it works. By pressing command-T, you will
get the standard OS X font window. Again, not fancy, but also
not much of a drain on resources.
Hidden Features
TextEdit can open and edit HTML files as either the source or
WYSIWYG. [Editor's note: That's either/or. You can't toggle
between the two modes.]
Besides that, TextEdit features find and replace (not so hidden)
and some high-end font tools. You can place pictures and other
documents in TextEdit documents and export documents for Word and
AppleWorks.
Although you must convert Word and AppleWorks files to RTF before
they can be opened in TextEdit, it's not that much of a hassle.
TextEdit Might Just Be What You Need
If you only use the word processing module from AppleWorks or
think Word is just too darned expensive, you might want to try
TextEdit as your main word processor. Judging from improvements since
the version that came with OS X 10.1, it's bound to get even
better.
Mac of the Day: iMac Core Duo, Jan. 2006 - The first Intel-based iMacs ran at 1.83-2.0 GHz, came with 17" and 20" displays.
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