AkelPad

AkelPad is a compact and open-source word processing tool oriented towards users who prefer a straightforward application for taking notes and creating text documents.

Wrapped up in an approachable and minimalistic interface, the tool reminds us of Windows Notepad in simplicity. All options puts at your disposal can be discovered in the menu bar.

The standard functions available and shared with most text editors are undo, redo, cut, copy, paste and select all, along with search and replace. You can insert special characters and the current time and date, as well as make modifications to the current selected text, such as converting characters to uppercase or lowercase, or trimming the trailing whitespace.

On top of that, you can customize the font and colors, switch to read-only mode, wrap words, split the window, disable the status bar (it shows the current column and line), make the frame stay on top of other windows, as well as switch to a different language for the interface. The utility offer full Unicode and syntax highlighting support for programming languages too. Settings can be saved to either the Windows Registry or an initialization file (INI).

The software application worked smoothly throughout our testing, without triggering the operating system to hang, crash or display error messages. Unsurprisingly, it had minimal impact on computer performance, using low CPU and memory. Taking into account its straightforward interface and options, AkelPad should satisfy the preferences of those looking for a lightweight word editor.