Full-screen writing program

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In computing, a full-screen writing program[1] or distraction-free editor[2][3][4] is a text editor that occupies the full display with the purpose of isolating the writer from the operating system (OS) and other applications. In this way one should be able to focus on the writing alone, with no distractions from the OS and a cluttered interface.[5][6][2][7] Often distraction-free editors feature a dark background and a text field, which is only about one third the width of the screen. The font is then in a brighter colour like green. However, most distraction-free editors include customisable user interfaces.[8] Some editors support rich text editing.

List of full screen editors

Open-source

Name Operating system support Notable aspects, references
Acme Plan 9, Linux, Mac OS, Windows Mouse chording; supports sending selected text through pipelines of programs; extensible & scriptable via any language.
CodeRoom Linux, Mac OS, Windows Supports syntax highlighting, written in C++ using Qt[9]
FocusWriter Linux, Mac OS, Windows Highly customisable[10]
gedit Cross-platform
KoalaWriter Linux, Mac OS, Windows Clone of OmmWriter[11]
LightWrite Web based Written in Python/Django. Features save online, export to file and 2 color modes. Free and Open Source.[12][13]
Marave Linux Similar to OmmWriter, CreaWriter; supports syntax highlighting[14]
PyRoom Linux, Mac OS Written in Python[15]
QuiEdit Linux, Windows Written in Python; supports spell checking (through Hunspell) and basic text formatting.[16]
RubyRoom Linux Written in Ruby[17]
TextRoom Linux, Mac OS, Windows Supports rich text[18]

Freeware

Name Operating system support Notable aspects, references
DarkRoom Windows Clone of WriteRoom for Windows .NET[19]
JDarkRoom Linux, Mac OS, Windows Clone of DarkRoom written in Java[20]
Q10 Windows
Writemonkey Windows Markdown Extra, Textile and WikiCreole support [21]
ZenEdit Windows Portable, consists of only one binary file[22]
ZenWriter Windows Simple, with background images and ambient music[23]

Proprietary

Name Operating system support Notable aspects, references
CreaWriter Windows Clone of OmmWriter for Windows; has limited free version[24]
iA Writer Mac OS Has iCloud and Dropbox integration, iPad and iPhone version, Focus Mode, and Markdown support
OmmWriter Mac OS, Windows Supports images as backgrounds, and a player for ambient music[25]
Sublime Text Linux, Mac OS, Windows customisable, for programmers,[26][27] has free trial version[28]
WriteRoom Mac OS Simple[29][30][31]
Xiosis Scribe Windows
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Features

Rich text support

Some distraction-free editors support rich text editing. These include CreaWriter, TextRoom, and WriteRoom.[24][32][18] In some cases, this feature turned off per default and must be set by a user.[32]

Syntax highlighting

Currently, only a few distraction-free editors support syntax highlighting. CodeRoom is an open source project with the purpose of creating a distraction-free code editor with customisable highlighting schemes.[9] The latest version of Marave supports syntax highlighting.[14]Sublime Text supports a distraction-free full-screen view.[26][27]

Aids to writing

Word count is a common feature in these editors. Other aids can include spell checkers, auto-corrections and quick text templates.[33]

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See also

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References

  1. ^ Full Screen Writing Program (English translation)
  2. ^ a b "Comparison of distraction-free editors on bweaver.net.". 
  3. ^ "Blog post on innovations in text editing.". 
  4. ^ "Poll on lifehacker.com on best distraction-free editor". 
  5. ^ "Tips and Tricks for Distraction-Free Writing". 
  6. ^ "ghacks.net on distraction-free on the distraction-free editor ZenEdit.". 
  7. ^ "List of distraction-free editors". 
  8. ^ "Tech Malaya blog post on some of the popular distraction-free editors". 
  9. ^ a b "CodeRoom on Google code". 
  10. ^ "FocusWriter official website". 
  11. ^ "KoalaWriter on Google code". 
  12. ^ "LightWrite - Gun.io". 
  13. ^ "LightWrite, A Free Online WriteRoom Clone". 
  14. ^ a b "Marave on Google code". 
  15. ^ "PyRoom official website". 
  16. ^ "QuiEdit official website". 
  17. ^ "RubyRoom official website". 
  18. ^ a b "TextRoom on Google code". 
  19. ^ "DarkRoom official website". 
  20. ^ "JDarkRoom official website". 
  21. ^ "Writemonkey features page". 
  22. ^ "ZenEdit official website". 
  23. ^ "ZenWriter website". 
  24. ^ a b "CreaWriter official website". 
  25. ^ "OmmWriter official website FAQ". 
  26. ^ a b "Announcement of distraction-free full-screen support on Sublime Text official blog". 
  27. ^ a b "Sublime Text features". 
  28. ^ "Sublime Text download section". 
  29. ^ "WriteRoom official website". 
  30. ^ Eisenman, Bonnie (8 July 2010). "Writeroom Review". 148Apps. TrouserMac Industries. Retrieved 23 April 2011. 
  31. ^ Elliott, Amy-Mae (19 January 2011). "How to: Beat Writer’s Block Online". Mashable. Retrieved 23 April 2011. 
  32. ^ a b "Comparison of distraction-free editors for OS-X". 
  33. ^ Q10 is a Full Screen Writing Program
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External links

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Last modified on 12 May 2013, at 01:12