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Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

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Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#281

Post by noch »

dmurray wrote: post #258
JohnFen wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> for people that aren't already familiar with navigating things like GIMP, KDE, Open/LibreOffice, it's not especially welcoming. This is true for all complex software, though. People who have never used Apple's software also struggle with it until they become more familiar.

Is VLC really "complex software" if you just want to use it as a media player? Double click your media file, it plays. Play, pause, volume controls are where you'd guess they are. There's plenty of complexity underneath, but the happy path is simple. By contrast, "open this image and draw a single red circle in it" in GIMP is as challenging to a newbie as quitting vi. Even for an intermediate user - I use GIMP a hand…

> Is VLC really "complex software"

The moment you criticize an app, someone on the Internet will jump in to tut-tut and insist to you that it's "complex software" and you can't possibly understand how complex it is. Case in point: Just a few years ago the Windows Terminal team chastised[^1] users by claiming that fast font rendering would literally require several PhDs of research and can't be solved otherwise[^0]. At some point we have to realize that claiming something is complex doesn't prove that it's inherently complex nor justify any complexity in how it was built.

[^0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28743687

[^1]: https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/10362#issuecomm...

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#282

Post by marcosdumay »

chongli wrote: post #147
userbinator wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hated the tabs already. When I open Notepad I expect a clean slate.

I thought the whole point of the Windows taskbar was to give you tabs for all your windows? Why did they feel the need to add tabs again!

The default Windows taskbar doesn't haven't given you tabs for a very long time, has been mostly unusable if you use it as tabs recently, and only has 1 level of tabs, while keeping tabs inside the application gives you another.

That said, I'm not sure notepad benefits from it.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#284

Post by ndiddy »

DCH3416 wrote: post #209
eBombzor wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They already went too far with the UWP transition. Now the app takes forever to launch, compared to the old version.

My favorite thing is when I open VS2008 or something. And it blinks into existence faster than the splash screen window can render fully. I don't understand how the editor has regressed to the point that 15 year old software performs better than the modern equivalent.

After Visual Studio 2008, they rewrote the UI in WPF and started writing large components of the program in C#. This dramatically regressed performance, especially on a cold start (it runs decently if you've had the program open for a while). I'd probably still be using Visual Studio 2008, except it limits you to C89 and C++03.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#285

Post by lupusreal »

bruce511 wrote: post #273
rqtwteye wrote: post #236

This seems to be a common trend everywhere. Instead of improving core functionality they add the latest buzzword tech, no matter it make sense or not. I am user of GaiaGPS to plan outdoors trips. Same there: the app is good but has some problems. Instead of fixing the problems they added social functionality which nobody really wants.

Hang on - notepad is the perfect place for a "rewrite my text" feature. And clearly its a useful too in a writing app that users would like. I get your complaint in general, but it does not seem like this is a good example of throwing random unrelated stuff in.

Last I saw, notepad didn't even have a spell checker. LLM integration seems very out of place in such an otherwise minimal editor.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#286

Post by [deleted] »

dmurray wrote: post #258
JohnFen wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> for people that aren't already familiar with navigating things like GIMP, KDE, Open/LibreOffice, it's not especially welcoming. This is true for all complex software, though. People who have never used Apple's software also struggle with it until they become more familiar.

Is VLC really "complex software" if you just want to use it as a media player? Double click your media file, it plays. Play, pause, volume controls are where you'd guess they are. There's plenty of complexity underneath, but the happy path is simple. By contrast, "open this image and draw a single red circle in it" in GIMP is as challenging to a newbie as quitting vi. Even for an intermediate user - I use GIMP a hand…

[deleted]

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#287

Post by kgeist »

lupusreal wrote: post #285
bruce511 wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hang on - notepad is the perfect place for a "rewrite my text" feature. And clearly its a useful too in a writing app that users would like. I get your complaint in general, but it does not seem like this is a good example of throwing random unrelated stuff in.

Last I saw, notepad didn't even have a spell checker. LLM integration seems very out of place in such an otherwise minimal editor.

An LLM can technically fix spelling

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#288

Post by EasyMark »

elpocko wrote: post #65
poulpy123 wrote: post #28

When you have a (very very expensive) hammer, everything looks like a nail

It's basically autocomplete, spellcheck and refactoring, just based on a new technical approach. Those are not new or unusual features for a text editor.

I just think people want a nice zen experience in notepad without the buzz of tech and AI swarming them. Kind of like choosing pen and paper instead of opening up Word. If I want a text editor for "all of the above capabilities" it won't be notepad.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#289

Post by optymizer »

llm_nerd wrote: post #226
optymizer wrote: post #74

Software companies want to shove AI everywhere because it's the shiny new thing. Hardware companies love it because they can finally have a way to fight the "it's good enough for email and browsing" argument to sell us more hardware.

They're shoving AI everywhere because it's extraordinarily powerful and truly differentiating. Being jaded and cynical about it doesn't change that reality. Obviously there will be winners and losers and it will shake out -- personally I can't imagine using notepad for more than pasting arbitrary text and it seems like the least features is the best -- but bonafide text tools without AI in 2024 are crippling.

I've been through quite a few hype cycles in my time on this Earth. What you call "reality," I call "been there, done that". Enjoy the ride.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#290

Post by rstat1 »

bruce511 wrote: post #273
rqtwteye wrote: post #236

This seems to be a common trend everywhere. Instead of improving core functionality they add the latest buzzword tech, no matter it make sense or not. I am user of GaiaGPS to plan outdoors trips. Same there: the app is good but has some problems. Instead of fixing the problems they added social functionality which nobody really wants.

Hang on - notepad is the perfect place for a "rewrite my text" feature. And clearly its a useful too in a writing app that users would like. I get your complaint in general, but it does not seem like this is a good example of throwing random unrelated stuff in.

No Notepad is a perfect example of this. It doesn't need any sort of "AI" BS.
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