Jarte

Jarte is a word processor based on Microsoft WordPad’s engine, which makes it extremely light and portable.

The tool has been designed to be simpler than other text processors as well as to take better advantage of WordPad’s hidden features. It supports opening documents with the extensions DOC, RTF, and TXT, and in the case of DOCX, it requires an additional compatibility pack.

The program has a multi-tab interface that allows editing various documents at the same time. It lets you switch between three layouts. In this regard, there is the default layout, named Compact, which shows just some of the options. Moreover, you can also change to the Minimal one, looking quite similar to WordPad. Finally, the Classic layout has bigger buttons and a side panel where the commands appear. I regret saying, though, that I am not a fan of any of the available layouts. In my opinion, they look somewhat outdated.

It seems logical that Jarte supports doing everything you can do with WordPad. However, it does allow other operations, like taking screen captures as well as inserting equations, links, pictures, and objects. It also lets you highlight text in 32 different colors, which is not possible with other editors. As to proofreading features, it includes a spellchecker and several dictionaries. Luckily, there is also a screen reader, which may come in handy for users with visual impairments.

In short, Jarte can be the right substitute for your operating system’s built-in text processor. Fortunately, there is nothing to lose, as it is both light and free. Yet, if you really like the product and would like to access more features, you can buy Jarte Plus, an advanced edition that is sold quite inexpensively.