Microsoft recently announced on GitHubNew cross-platform command line editorEditIt not only pays tribute to the classic tools of the MS-DOS era, but is also rebuilt with the Rust programming language, adding a modern architecture. It can be used in cross-platform environments such as Windows, macOS, and Linux, and it also makes up for the long-term lack of a default command line editor in the 64-bit Windows operating system.
MS-DOS Edit, released in 1991 alongside DOS 5.0, became the first modern text editor for many users at the time. The original version used a text-based interface to access the QBasic editor via a startup program called EDIT.COM. Later, as Microsoft focused on the Windows operating system, it transitioned to a command-line editor.
The new version of Edit has a file size of only about 250KB. Its original design concept is to be able to issue commands through an intuitive command line, just like the intuitive and practical days of the DOS era. It can be easily used in different operating systems and can be downloaded and installed through GitHub, or installed and used as a Snap package in a Linux environment. You can even download a 16-bit text mode version for the MS-DOS operating system through the Internet Archive.
Microsoft rebuilt Edit using the Rust language. In addition to adopting a safer and more performant underlying architecture, it also maintains a lightweight file size, cross-platform, and open source features. This has attracted great attention and recognition from the developer community, and also echoed the fact that traditional command-line editors still have an irreplaceable position in the modern development process.
