BBEdit 10.0: Venerable Mac text editor gets a huge update
When developers, writers, web devs, scientists, and system admins need a full-powered Mac HTML and text editor, they often turn to BBEdit from Bare Bones Software. BBEdit 10.0 has just been released, with a ton of new features.
I'm not kidding about the weight of those new features -- during an hour-long phone call with Bare Bones Software CEO and founder Rich Siegel, we were only able to touch on the top items.
Foremost among the improvements is a feature that's invisible, at least until you start really pushing the app hard: the enhanced performance of the new version of BBEdit.
The project and editing windows have a similar layout making access to open and recent documents a click away. Projects include a Unix worksheet and scratchpad, which to me (not a developer) seemed like magic, allowing terminal scripts to run within the worksheet. A new HTML Tools palette makes generating error-free HTML a snap, and even partially completed documents can be displayed with "Preview in BBEdit." As much as I love Brett Terpstra's new Marked app for previewing Markdown, BBEdit 10.0 does a great job of supporting Markdown and the results can be previewed right within the app. (Sorry, Brett.)
I was pretty impressed with Siegel's demonstration of using color schemes for projects. BBEdit 10.0 is using a number of schemes developed by Daring Fireball blogger and Markdown inventor John Gruber.
As a Dropbox fan, I was really happy to see how Dropbox is now used as a sync point for BBEdit configuration between computers or workgroups. To do this, a folder titled "Application Support" is added to Dropbox and the BBEdit config files are copied to it. The next time BBEdit launches, it recognizes the Dropbox folder and uses it. It's a perfect way to keep projects and settings synced between Macs.
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As expected, BBEdit 10.0 is Lion-ready. It doesn't require the latest OS, but does require an Intel-based Mac. BBEdit 10.0 uses its own Auto-Save capabilities, saving documents, windows positions, and more when quitting. If you have to Force Quit the app for some reason or the app crashes, it saves the current state in an auto-recovery file that it will try to open at the next launch.
I asked Siegel about some other Lion features, such as file versioning. He said that their primary goal with 10.0 was to get all 124 new features out to developers as quickly as possible, and that they'll add more Lion-specific features now that the app is on the market.
One other feature that was impressive to see in action was read/write support of compressed files. As an example, Siegel did a global find and replace in a compressed 190 MB file. There were 360149 changes made in a very short amount of time, which really speaks to the speed of BBEdit 10.0. Saving files recompresses them, as the company wants to make it as easy to work in zip files as any other file type. This feature will be very useful to those who are working with EPUB files.
Speaking of ebooks, you'll be amazed to know that BBEdit 10.0 comes complete with a 380-page PDF user manual. Yes, it takes that amount of space to describe all of the features and tricks of the trade that are built into BBEdit.
Along with the huge number of new features comes a new lower price point. In the past, BBEdit sold for US$99.99. As an introductory price (and for upgrades and new purchases made from the Mac App Store), BBEdit 10.0 will be available for $39.99 through October 19, 2011. After that time, the price goes up slightly to $49.99. Those who already own BBEdit and purchased it after January 1, 2011 get a free update and will be notified by the company.
Show full PR text
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Naomi Pearce, 510-528-0824,
Bare Bones Software Ships BBEdit 10.0
Major New Version Plus Lion Compatibility for Professional Mac
Text Editor Paves the Way For Getting Work Done More Easily
BEDFORD, Mass. - July 19, 2011 - Bare Bones Software today announced
the release and immediate availability of BBEdit(r) 10.0, a major
new version of the professional strength HTML and text editor for
the Mac.
BBEdit 10 introduces new project and document editing windows, an
all-new HTML Markup panel and palette, and integrated support for
working directly with documents stored in Zip archives. In addition,
BBEdit 10 introduces switchable syntax color schemes, seamless
preservation of open documents on relaunch, and support for using
Dropbox to share application configuration and setup data. BBEdit 10
also includes a completely re-imagined Preferences window, along
with significant performance and user interface enhancements.
"We have a long and distinguished history of delivering dramatic
upgrades to BBEdit, and version 10 is no exception," said Rich
Siegel, founder and CEO of Bare Bones Software, Inc. "Everything in
this new version is designed to improve the working life of the
professionals -- including web authors, software developers,
scientists, system admins, and writers -- that rely on BBEdit. We
leave it to our customers to decide which of the hundred or so
additions, changes, and refinements they like the best."
In BBEdit 10, new project and editing windows now share a unified
layout with easy, direct access to both open and recent documents,
while projects also now include a dedicated Unix worksheet and
scratchpad. The reinvented HTML Tools palette and markup panel allow
more flexibility, while "Preview in BBEdit" now supports templates
for displaying content from partial documents.
For EPUB ebook developers, BBEdit 10 now supports editing and saving
documents directly within Zip archives, as well as performing
multi-file search-and-replace operations and applying text factories
to files within Zip archives, all without requiring cumbersome
manual de- and recompression.
BBEdit's new "Text Colors" preference panel now makes it easy to
create and switch between different color schemes. Upon quitting,
BBEdit 10 now automatically remembers the contents of unsaved
documents, and reopens exactly as it was when last quit. For
customers who use multiple machines, BBEdit's application support
data can now reside in a Dropbox folder, shared between multiple
BBEdit installations.
A completely re-imagined Preferences window permits easy
customization, while a new Setup window provides a central location
to manage configuration, including FTP/SFTP bookmarks, grep
patterns, file filters and web site configurations.
Access to text filters and scripts is now streamlined, plus BBEdit
10 now has the ability to treat AppleScripts, Automator actions,
text factories, and Unix scripts as co-equal and all may be used as
text filters or run directly as scripts. BBEdit 10 also supports
"packages" to simplify adding related configuration items, such as
language modules, clippings, and scripts.
Detailed information on changes and improvements implemented in
BBEdit 10 can be found at:
For more information on BBEdit, or to download a fully functional
demo version, please visit the company's web site:
BBEdit: Power Tool for Text
---------------------------
BBEdit is the leading professional-strength HTML and text editor for
the Mac. Crafted to serve the needs of Web and software developers,
this award-winning product provides a vast number of helpful
features for editing, searching, and manipulation of text. BBEdit
enjoys legendary status for reliably transforming text with high
performance. BBEdit requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later (10.6.8
recommended), and is compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.
Pricing and Availability
------------------------
BBEdit 10 has a suggested retail price of US$49.99. Through Oct. 19,
2011, BBEdit 10 is available at an introductory price of US$39.99
from Bare Bones Software or the Mac App Store.
Anyone who purchased BBEdit on or after January 1, 2011 will be
eligible for a free upgrade and automatically notified: customers
who purchased from the Mac App Store will receive the upgrade
automatically; and qualifying registered customers will receive an
email notification from Bare Bones Software.
Any registered owner of BBEdit can upgrade for US$39.99 directly
from the Bare Bones Software online store:
BBEdit 10 may be purchased directly from Bare Bones Software, the
Mac App Store and numerous other Macintosh software resellers. For a
partial listing of domestic and international resellers, please
visit:
Site license pricing is also available. For details please visit the
company's online store, send email to , or call
(978) 251-0500.
About Bare Bones Software, Inc.
-------------------------------
Bare Bones Software, Inc. develops leading-edge power tools for the
Mac. The company's passion for creating deeply functional software
with a clean, effective interface has earned it devotion from Mac
users worldwide, plus quite a few awards. For more information,
visit .
TextWrangler, Yojimbo, WeatherCal and the Bare Bones Software logo
are trademarks of, and BBEdit and "It doesn't suck" are registered
trademarks of Bare Bones Software, Inc. Copyright (c) 2011, all
rights reserved. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.
==end== @barebones.com> @barebones.com>
