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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

#441

Post by WorldMaker »

lenkite wrote: post #411
ndiddy wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Maybe they need to rewrite their software stack in Rust now. For performance.

C# is working hard to be Rust-like in certain areas of performance. Part of Visual Studio's problem is that they can't yet take advantage of it in some key areas because they are still dependent on the Legacy Framework and Legacy WPF and have to migrate to modern .NET.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#442

Post by nuancebydefault »

ack_complete wrote: post #386
sahmeepee wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umm, not sure which version of notepad.exe keeps a lock on open files. None that I've used in the last 25 years.

It's not the lock on the file, it's the lock on the directory. The common file dialog in Windows changes the current directory of the process to the file that was selected, and a Win32 process holds a lock on its current directory. So when you open readme.txt in a particular folder, Notepad.exe's current directory is changed to and holds a lock on that folder. This is also why so many people run into problems trying…

Wow, so notepad++ and vscode quickly change the cwd after opening a file via a win dialog?

It makes sense since 10 or so years ago it was often the case that one file explorer had a lock on a folder and another file explorer couldn't delete that folder. Then tools like processviewer.exe gave some insight.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#443

Post by satvikpendem »

noch wrote: post #367
0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You missed the updates to the text rendering story. The guy who requested the feature then went ahead and implemented the feature in a weekend. Something like a year later, Microsoft did actually improve the behavior and never credited the guy who proved it was possible.

> The guy who requested the feature then went ahead and implemented the feature in a weekend. Something like a year later, Microsoft did actually improve the behavior and never credited the guy who proved it was possible. Thanks for telling me about that development. I'm … speechless.

They eventually did credit "the guy," Casey Muratori, who's a very accomplished game engine developer. He has a series called Handmade Hero where he writes an engine and game from scratch and streams it live.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#444

Post by wildpeaks »

sebtron wrote: post #21

A while ago I wrote about my experience using Windows for work after 10 years of being a Linux-only user [1]. One of the positive notes I had was: > As a positive note, the default text editor Notepad is nice and lightweight, a good piece of software. Unfortunately, they screwed it up with Windows 11. And apparently they are doubling down on this. [1] https://sebastiano.tronto.net/blog/2023-01-28-windows-deskto...

And they wonder why so many people stick to Windows 10

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#445

Post by graypegg »

I do not know much about the internal workings of Windows, but why is this not implemented as a system wide action? Are they really implementing "AI Tools" in every application that uses text... individually?

If this was in the context menu, along with Cut, Copy and Paste, you would be getting AI integration for free on every application that renders a text box widget.

I mean... spell check is implemented like that right? They seem to be pitching this as a way to correct or improve text so why not build on that?

I'm not even a fan of this sort of generative AI "type whatever" tool, or I at least find it to normally be inadequate. But if they're going to do this AI pivot in Windows anyway, the choice of implementation here seems short sighted.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#446

Post by lancesells »

venusenvy47 wrote: post #301
dmurray wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I've used VLC forever and I had no idea there is anything more to it than playing media. It always seems to have the most recent codecs, so it doesn't seem crusty to me.

I've used VLC for a long time as well, and while I wouldn't call it crusty, I would call it odd. Powerful, super capable, but doesn't seem to follow standard conventions. Honestly, it's odd but I would rather they don't do some overhaul to standardize or modernize it. Software, hardware, etc. don't have to be homogenous or turn into bland corporate-ware.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#447

Post by red-iron-pine »

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…

100% agree.

VLC is simple as pie. open folder, click music or video, it plays. drag files to it, it adds them to the playlist. same functionality as WinAmp, etc.

I had to watch three (3) youtube tutorials to figure out how to import a pdf and copy-paste a signature to it.

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#448

Post by BobbyTables2 »

gigel82 wrote: post #256

Why cloud? Rewriting some text is definitely something a local LLM can do; they have NPUs on the Copilot PCs so why not use that? So far the only feature I've seen them talking about for the NPUs on the Copilot PCs is image generation in Paint. Something feels off here.

Why not cloud for everything? They really want YOUR DATA!

Re: Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now

#450

Post by nitwit005 »

llm_nerd wrote: post #271
croes wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If AI is so powerful why don’t we see a massive productivity spike around the globe? It may be convenient but more than once just replaced the time I needed to write my code by time fine tuning the prompt because the AI didn’t quite got what I wanted. On top of that I must review foreign code. That’s harder than code I already know. And on top of that the end result lacks the feeling of accomplishment in solving a pr…

>If AI is so powerful why don’t we see a massive productivity spike around the globe? We overestimate the short term effects and underestimate the long term effects (Amara's law). We're currently in the trough of disillusionment where people are running around saying that AI failed, was overblown, etc, while people like me are working with corporations to completely change how they operate, to an outrageous efficienc…

It can't simultaneously not show up in efficiency data, and provide an "outrageous efficiency boost".
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