Filed under “very specific reasons to be excited,” not all of the announcements coming out of Microsoft Build 2018, their annual developer conference, are major.
Biggest announcement at Microsoft Build conference: Notepad will, after ~25 years, FINALLY support *nix line endings. Forget everything else, this is the new world! #whyamIsoexcited
— Matt Merkle (@matt_merkle) May 8, 2018
Yes, it’s true. After 33 years of multi-platform users suffering, Windows Notepad can finally understand Linux, Unix, Mac OS, and macOS line endings.
“This has been a major annoyance for developers, IT Pros, administrators, and end users throughout the community…We hope that you find this change useful and look forward to hearing your feedback.” The company wrote in a blog post.
The Register reported that when Kevin Gallo, head of Windows developer platform announced “We fixed Notepad,” it elicited the loudest cheer.
Microsoft finally fixed rendering of LF line endings in Notepad! Amen!
— Haack the planet (@haacked) May 8, 2018
This is what Notepad looked like before the update.
This is what Notepad looks like now, after the update.
Notepad now supports Unix/Linux and Macintosh line endings. In the blog post, Microsoft states that although new files created using Notepad will default to using the Windows line ending, it is “now possible to view, edit, and print existing files, correctly maintaining the file’s current line ending format.”
But, don’t get too excited too fast. The updated Notepad it is only available in the most recent Insider Preview Build, as a part of the Windows Insider Program. Others will have to wait until it reaches the general Windows 10 build.