We keep several Notepad replacements in our shareware utility belts, including TextPad, NoteTab Light, and Notepad++. We do this because one program might have a feature that the others don’t, for example, multiple-file search and replace, word count, or HTML and CSS capabilities.

Our latest ersatz Notepad is DocPad, whose interface is refreshingly different from most of the other text utilities we use. Its many features include a curious “System-G,” which allows you to configure the interface yourself, something that most other utilities don’t offer. Few programs offer this flexibility, which means that DocPad is suitable for both newbies and techies. Newbies will find the toolbar friendly, and techies will love the configuration editor.

Calculator, calendar, and character map are among the attractive icons in the toolbar and ensure that you stay in the program if you need to do math functions or check dates quickly. The statistics feature for documents can tell you anything you ever want to know about your text file, and then some. You can also define Word-like macros, check spelling, convert cases, and alphabetize paragraphs in DocPad. A color picker is an immense help when it comes to selecting RGB and hexadecimal codes for Web pages.

Our belts are getting a little tight with utilities, but we’ll make room for DocPad.

Where to Get it: http://gammadyne.com/docpad.htm

Price: Free

Requirements: Any computer running Windows 98, NT4, 2000, ME, XP, 2003, or Vista

Bill Dubie and Dave Sciuto are industry columnists. They recommend strongly that you read the end-user license agreement on any software you download, as the program could contain spyware or other utilities you don’t want on your computer. Email them.