Why is TextWrangler still available/developed given the recent addition of free mode to BBEdit?

[jolin...@gmail.com]

Hi all,

I've used TextWrangler since it was released (and before that BBEdit Lite), and it is a fantastic product. It more than meets my needs to do the occasional (2-3 times/month) text file editing or advanced grep search-and-replace. With the recent release of BBEdit 11 and it's free mode that incorporates all of TextWrangler's features and a few more, I assumed that TextWrangler would be phased out. At the moment, I haven't changed anything, still using TextWrangler 5. (Well, I haven't needed to use it since BBEdit 11 was released, which is partly why I haven't changed anything.) So I was surprised to see the release of TextWrangler 5.5. The product page encourages all current and potential TextWrangler users to try/use BBEdit instead. Yet TextWrangler has just received an update. So my question is this: why do both these products exist, and should I be updating my existing install of TextWrangler or moving to BBEdit? Before 5.5, I would have thought the latter, but since TextWrangler continues to be developed, is there some reason I should be sticking with it?

Thanks!

[Rich Siegel]

On Tuesday, August 2, 2016, jolin...@gmail.com wrote:

>After the recent release of the new free mode in BBEdit 11.6, I
>assumed that TextWrangler would be phased out, given that
>BBEdit in free mode offers all of TextWrangler's features and more.

That is a correct assumption.

>I was planning on moving to BBEdit, but now I wonder if there is some
>reason I should stick with TextWrangler. If not, why continue to
>develop it?

We definitely want TextWrangler customers to start using BBEdit.
:-) But we don't expect those folks to switch right away.

We wanted to give TextWrangler customers the benefit of those
changes we had made in BBEdit since the last TextWrangler
update. Releasing an update to TextWrangler was the most
straightforward way to do it.

If you are currently using TextWrangler we definitely think you
should start using BBEdit. If there's some reason you can't, we
would like to know about it. (In that case, please write to
<sup...@barebones.com> and tell us more.)

R.
--
Rich Siegel Bare Bones Software, Inc.
<sie...@barebones.com> <http://www.barebones.com/>

Someday I'll look back on all this and laugh... until they
sedate me.

[Greg Shenaut]

This is the first I've heard about a BBEdit “free mode” eventually replacing TextWrangler. I've been using both BBEdit and TextWrangler: the former for projects, the latter for quick writing of a single document where the lighter-weight interface seems more convenient. Once TextWrangler is finally gone, what I'm wondering is if there will be some to retain a “TextWrangler.app” of some sort—a shim or alias or something—that would bring up BBedit, but set to emulate TextWrangler (perhaps in the “free mode”), or at least with an alternate set of preferences.

Just wondering.

Greg Shenaut

[Rich Siegel]

On Monday, August 8, 2016, Greg Shenaut

<gregory...@gmail.com> wrote:

>I've been using both BBEdit and TextWrangler: the former for
>projects, the latter for quick writing of a single document
>where the lighter-weight interface seems more convenient.

Since both applications present the same overall UI with the
exception of menu structure, what aspects of TextWrangler's UI
do you find to be "lighter weight"?

>Once TextWrangler is finally gone, what I'm wondering is if
>there will be some to retain a “TextWrangler.app” of some
>sort—a shim or alias or something—that would bring up
>BBedit, but set to emulate TextWrangler (perhaps in the “free
>mode”), or at least with an alternate set of preferences.

That isn't feasible, but I would imagine that one could simply
adjust BBEdit's settings to taste, and proceed forward with a
single application.

[Steve]

You have to realize too that BareBones isn't going to simply blow TextWrangler.app off your computer. They may not update it again (giving all the new features to BBEdit), but there's nothing saying that you can't continue to have both applications on your computer at once.

[Rich Siegel]

On Monday, August 8, 2016, Steve <onli...@gmail.com> wrote:

> You have to realize too that BareBones isn't going to simply blow
> TextWrangler.app off your computer. They may not update it again (giving
> all the new features to BBEdit), but there's nothing saying that you can't
> continue to have both applications on your computer at once.

That too. :-)

[Greg Shenaut]

I was assuming that at a certain point, TW would no longer run on current Macs. As I stated, I've been running them both for years.

As for the difference in the interface, it's really just a habit. I almost always use the file/project browser in BBEdit (as far as I know this doesn't exist in TW), and have a bunch of specific preferences set that help in projects, but are unnecessary and could be distracting in a simple one-off document. Since TW was there, I just used it.

I'll probably just use TextEdit for the simple documents.

Greg

[jolin...@gmail.com]

Thanks Rich for your helpful response – and also for going above and beyond by updating TextWrangler so those who aren't ready to move over yet have new features. I'll definitely switch to BBEdit then.

Cheers,

Jolin