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For many years I've been using the Mac OS Note Pad as a handy, instant-opening mini-database for a particular collection of information that I access frequently. However, for some reason, Apple decided to demote the Note Pad, beginning with OS 8.6 or 9 (forget which), in which it was no longer included in the default install of Apple Menu items. You could still find it in the Apple Extras folder and manually drag it to the Apple Menu Items folder. However, with OS X, it was gone, without, IMHO, an adequate substitute.I guess Steve jobs wants us to use Stickies instead, but I have never found Stickies to be as convenient for my purposes as the Note Pad. Shareware developers to the rescue, and as with text editors, there is a wide selection of Note Pad replacement alternatives available. I have tried several, a while some are excellent little applications, they typically include too many features, and thus defeat the minimalist simplicity of the old Apple Note Pad, which has been around since the dawn of the Mac in 1984. Consequently, I still keep any alias to the Classic OS Note Pad in the Dock, and use it in Classic Mode, while remaining on the lookout for a suitable OS X native replacement. One candidate that I like quite well is Alapin, which retains much of the straightforward simplicity of the old Note Pad, but with Cocoa versatility and access to OS X Services. 
Alepin features Classic Notepad import, Stickies X import, fodler of Text/RTF/RTFD import, autosave and auto-open. 
In the Preferences, you can select to have Alepin save a copy of you file every time you save. The file will have the same name as your original but will have a trailing ~ at the end of its name. This feature allows you to drag or copy information in an Alepin page and when the operation is done, tell Alepin to automatically create a new page, ready for the next element. This is a great way to accumulate a bank of images by simply dragging graphics one after the other. Each image then ends up in a different page. The highlight feature works by changing the background color of text. After selecting some text, you can choose a highlite color from the Format menu and select Highlight. The selection's background color will change. Five colors available, Yellow, Blue, Green, Orange and Pink. The Toolbar offers a handy shortcut for this tool which offers a faster way to set the color and apply it at the same time. You can add the Highlighter icon to the toolbar by selecting Customize Toolbar from the Window menu. 
Selecting the color with some text selected has the added benefit of changing the selection's highlight at the same time to this color. Alepin provides the standard Cocoa Toolbar, which you can customize by going to the Window menu and selecting Customize Toolbar. You can also hide and show the toolbar as you wish to save screen space. The Import menu now offers three ways to import data into Alepin. The Classic Note Pad file, The OS X Stickies file (which itself imports OS 9 Stickies if you need them) or, it can take a folder full of text files in plain text, RTF or RTFD format and import them as well. When importing from stickies, the sticky's creation dates are preserved but not modification dates. Alepin imported my Note Pad database file with no problem, a retained the page structure and organization nicely.
Other Features:
Alepin is a pleasant little application. My biggest complaint is that, unlike the original Note Pad, it does not launch instantly. If that can be addressed, I may eventually switch to Alepin as my OS X native Note Pad replacement.
System requirements:
For more information, visit:
Many education-users Path Finder Mac OS X only booting is not going to be delayed From anonymous
Charles,
Apple has yet to remove:
And unless they do, I don't expect this rumor to be true.
Sincerely,
Hi A.;
As I noted in the report, I'm skeptical too. My suspicion is that there may be some under the table accommodation arranged for certain QuarkXpress users.
I notice that ExtremeTech has now posted an item on the topic:
"This news could ease purchasing decisions for professional publishers who rely on XPress, which currently runs only on Mac OS 9 and within Mac OS X's Classic environment as well as Microsoft Windows. Quark has said that it is working on a Mac OS X-native version of XPress, but sources said the upgrade won't be out until mid-2003." Charles From Judson
Charles, I do tech support for the 3rd largest school district in the U.S. We enthusiastically endorse the move to OSX. Since our schools are about 50/50 macs and PC's, OSX's simple networking with PC's and visa versa has made this obvious. No need for users to boot into OS9, running Classic apps as needed in OSX. This single networking advantage far out weighs any need to boot into an old (but revolutionary) OS. Judson
Hi Judson;
I'm sure there is a diversity of opinion in the education community on this topic. I infer that the problem of having older Macs in the fleet that can't boot into OS 9 is not an issue for your schools.
For the record, you are the first educator I've heard expressing enthusiasm for OS X-only boot support, although many like OS X in general.
Charles From anonymous
Charles,
http://www.applelinks.com/articles/2002/11/20021120115859.shtml You talked about Path Finder...very nice idea for a program, except I found it was excruciatingly slow whenever iDisks are mounted. Much slower than the Finder itself at the same time, and the program simply froze. Hopefully it is fixed when a newer version comes along.
Sincerely,
Hi A.
Some people realy like PathFinder. I found it impressive, but another layer of complexity. My preference, in OS 9 as well as OS X, is to use the system default features as much as possible, with shareware add-ons as needed.
Charles
The OS X Odyssey archives may be accessed here: Note: Letters to Moore's Mailbag may or may not be published at the editor's discretion. Correspondents' email addresses will NOT be published unless the correspondent specifically requests publication. Letters may be edited for length and/or context. Opinions expressed in postings to Moore's MailBag are those of the respective correspondents and not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Editor and/or Applelinks management. If you would prefer that your message not appear in Moore's Mailbag, we would still like to hear from you. Just clearly mark your message "NOT FOR PUBLICATION," and it will not be published. CM
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