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Q: Why are you giving away TextWrangler 2? (top)
A: We see the need for a strong, feature-rich text editor at a low price. In the past two years since TextWrangler's initial release, we have observed the crowding of the landscape with products which don't meet our standards for quality and thoughtfulness.
By making TextWrangler 2.0 available at no charge, we're answering the call of Mac users who need a powerful, professionally executed product, and raising the bar for Mac text editors.
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Q: At one point you were going to take TextWrangler in a different direction. Why didn't you? (top)
A: The original product concept for TextWrangler included the possibility that the needs of our TextWrangler customers would differ somewhat from the needs of our BBEdit customers, and that TextWrangler would perforce go in a different direction.
In fact, all of the excellent feedback from our customers led us to consider options for TextWrangler which were applicable not only to TextWrangler, but to BBEdit as well.
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Q: Is TextWrangler always going to be a sub-set of BBEdit? (top)
A: We believe so. After two years exploration and discussion, our conclusion is that a sub-set makes the most sense.
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Q: If this is a sub-set of BBEdit, why not resurrect the BBEdit Lite name? (top)
A: Over the many years that BBEdit Lite was available, we observed a great deal of confusion among BBEdit Lite users. I think our staff is amazing and handled that sort of thing very well, but in point of fact, using the "BBEdit Lite" name caused widespread problems.
Since "Lite" is a modifier on the product's name, problems would arise because customers using BBEdit Lite were not aware that they were using a lighter-weight free version of a commercial product.
Also, it was difficult for anyone to develop tutorials, books, and other educational materials, since they too had to undertake the complicated task of differentiating the feature sets of BBEdit Lite and BBEdit.
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Q: Was discontinuing BBEdit Lite a mistake? (top)
A: Absolutely not. Apart from it being odd to characterize any action involving the generosity of free products from a commercial developer as a "mistake", BBEdit Lite's code base had aged to the point of being unmaintainable. It would have been impractical for us to invest the effort required to refresh BBEdit Lite to meet our functional standards and the needs of the community.
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Q: Isn't this really just BBEdit Lite resurrected? (top)
A: No. Although all of our products share some DNA, TextWrangler is a completely different product under the hood than BBEdit Lite, and is far more advanced that BBEdit Lite ever could have been. This can be observed at a glance by inspecting our comparison chart at <http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/threeway.shtml> and by considering the new features added in TextWrangler 2.0.
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Q: What about the people who paid US$49 for TextWrangler? Aren't they going to be mad that it's now free? (top)
A: We deeply appreciate the support of those customers. Coincident with the release of TextWrangler 2.0, we're sending each one a coupon code which is good for a US$49 credit off any purchase from our online store. They'll be able to apply this credit toward the purchase of anything we sell, including the cross upgrade to BBEdit 8 - so they'll be able to get BBEdit 8 for US$80, which is an amazing return on their original investment.
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Q: Why buy BBEdit when TextWrangler is free? (top)
A: BBEdit is a professional tool with professional features, from advanced HTML and CSS tools to seamless integration with version control systems and much more. Web developers rely on the HTML markup tools in BBEdit for fast, easy, and correct markup, plus the ability to preview in BBEdit, even when server pre-processing is required.
With syntax coloring and function navigation for over twenty languages, integrated support for CVS and Perforce version control systems, and handshaking with Xcode and CodeWarrior, BBEdit is an essential power tool for programmers.
Finally, such diverse features as the Glossary, Text Factories, File Groups, and Shell Worksheets make the lives of all professionals much easier. MacWorld magazine agrees, choosing to bestow a 2004 Macworld Magazine Editor's Choice Award on BBEdit 8.0. We encourage you to learn more about BBEdit's depth.