textpad 9 v Textpad 8

[BrianAbbott]

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere - I have searched but can't find the answer.

Assuming I don't have an ARM processor on my machine, is there any reason to move from v8 to v9 ?

[AmigoJack]

That's not the only addition. I've filtered the release notes to all enhancements of v9 updates and underlined those which cannot be found in v8 updates (cannot verify, still use 8.4.2):

• TextPad 9.7.0 (January 17, 2025)
  • Added a configuration option to make File Explorer open files in new instances of TextPad.
  • The Quick Open command now expands environment variables such as %APPDATA%, and its dialog box is resizable.
  • The folder used for automatic saves is now the same as the one specified for backups.
  • When TextPad 9 is run as administrator, the user account control shield is displayed on the statusbar.
• TextPad 9.6.2 (December 4, 2024)
  • A native build of TextPad 9 is now available for ARM64 processors.
• TextPad 9.6.0 (November 2, 2024)
  • A “Duplicate” command on the Edit menu. It duplicates either the current line or the selected text.
  • The undo command now restores the selection.
  • The “EditUnicode” command (Alt+X) now converts the hexadecimal digits in the selection, or to the left of the insert position, to the corresponding Unicode character, and vice versa.
  • The browse button on the Quick Open dialog box (Ctrl+Shift+O) now invokes a folder browser instead of a file browser.
  • The toolbar icon image editor now supports 32 bits per pixel transparency. (Version 9 only.)
• TextPad 9.5.0 (June 9, 2024)
  • More themes are available for customizing the appearance of the user interface.
  • Scripts in languages such as Python, PHP and awk can now be used to edit documents. For more information, see "HOWTOs" in the forum.
• TextPad 9.4.0 (February 4, 2024)
  • Added a command to the Configure menu to save the configuration.
  • Added a command to compare files to the context menu of the document selector.
  • The line and column numbers of the insert position can be displayed by assigning a keyboard shortcut to the command Edit:CaretPosition.
  • If TextPad is running when Windows Update reboots the computer, its files are automatically reopened after startup.
  • New documents which have not been saved to files are saved in the open workspace.
  • Implemented a command line option to open files in the first instance of TextPad using a '-1' parameter.
  • New installations are initialised to backup every 10 minutes.
• TextPad 9.3.0 (August 1, 2023)
  • The options to display full paths on the document selector and document tabs are now independent.
  • A context menu command to save the documents selected on the Document Selector.
  • A context menu command to move documents to a new instance.
  • Added a button to the Spelling Preferences dialog box for adding new languages.
  • Prompt to save a new shortcut that has not been assigned to a command, when closing Keyboard Preferences.
  • Cache .editorconfig files, to speed up processing on network filesystems.
  • Optimise the number of times a file is checked for external updates, to reduce delays on network filesystems.
• TextPad 9.2.0 (April 2, 2023)
  • SVG icons can be used for custom toolbar buttons. This option is selectable on Configure » Preferences » View.
  • A bold font is used to emphasise the active document tab.
  • The History List dialog box is now resizable.
• TextPad 9.1.0 (February 27, 2023)
  • An optional regular expression builder for the Find and Replace commands. Select this on Configure » Preferences » Editor.
  • A user interface to manage history lists. See the Configure menu.
  • An option to display a Windows navigator when switching between documents with Ctrl+tab. Select this on Configure » Preferences » View.
  • An option to use the Windows standard file open dialogs for users who require more functionality than is available from the themed ones. Select this on Configure » Preferences » File.
• TextPad 9.0.0 (January 16, 2023)
  • The user interface has an optional theme with a dark background
  • The spell checker uses the dictionaries for languages installed in Windows.
  • When run as administrator, Preference options has a page for setting system policies.

[bbadmin]

As AmigoJack has highlighted, the differences between version 8 and 9 are mostly cosmetic, but only TextPad 8 is available in a 32-bit edition and runs on Windows 7.

[BrianAbbott]

Thanks for that info both