Notepad++ v8.6: 20th-Year Anniversary
2023-11-23
Today marks the 20th anniversary of Notepad++ (November 23, 2003), when it launched its first version (v1.0) on SourceForge:
From v1.0 to the current v8.6, there have been 238 official releases (excluding some releases that were withdrawn due to critical bugs). I still recall that between the v1.x and the v2.0, I repeatedly signed up on various websites, so that I could spam the forums with “Notepad++ is awesome!” message. At the beginning of the project, it has been a one-man show from coding to web design to marketing to logo design to user interaction, which confirms that “Doing open source projects is like being stranded on a deserted island. The bad news is you have to do everything yourself. The good news is you have to do everything yourself.”
As the user base grew, so did Notepad++’s popularity, and I no longer needed to go to different forums and scream “Notepad++ is awesome!”. Meanwhile, the feature requests and bug reports also surged, and fortunately contributors started to join the Notepad++ project and help to enhance features and fix bugs. These contributors include coders, testers, translators from various countries, and power users who know Notepad++ functions better than I do (they exist, though they are rare :) ) who write and maintain Notepad++ User Manual, and also help to manage issues and answer the questions of regular users on the forum - thanks to these contributors’ dedication to the project, the Notepad++ community has emerged.
On this occasion of Notepad++’s 20th birthday, I want to express my gratitude to all the contributors: without you, Notepad++ wouldn’t be what it is today.
Multi-edit is the main feature of this version. Here is a small demo to show what Notepad++ v8.6 is capable (See Multi-Edit How-to to learn how to do it):
Another frequently demanded feature which has been implemented in this version is to remember inaccessible files across the sessions, by using empty & read-only documents as placeholders. To enable the feature, check Remember inaccessible files from past session option in Backup section of the Preferences dialog.
This release brings you more enhancements and bug fixes. To get v8.6 and discover its features, please check out this link:
Regression and critical bug report here:
https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/25165/notepad-v8-6-release-20th-year-anniversary
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