When comparing Write! vs Texts, the Slant community recommends Write! for most people. In the question“What are the best open source Markdown editors for UNIX-like systems?” Write! is ranked 10th while Texts is ranked 29th. The most important reason people chose Write! is:
Write! has tabs at the top and a tree view on the left that allows quickly switching between different files.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Allows easily switching between working on multiple files
Write! has tabs at the top and a tree view on the left that allows quickly switching between different files.
Pro Interface doesn't get in the way of work
The interface is minimal, when it's windowed there are no buttons or toolbars, so it doesn't distract from work. When it's in fullscreen, there's just text, no interface at all.
Pro Endless undo/redo
Write! uses a file format that saves all versions of a document. Meaning even if the app is closed and then opened up again, Write! can restore any previous version of the document.
Pro Can double as a to-do list app
Write! has a to-do list mode that allows creating lists of items in groups (tabs) that can be ticked off when completed.
Pro Picks up where you left off next time you start the app
Write! saves the state that it's in when closed and restores that state when opened. You can pick up working on documents in the exact same place you left off - same documents open, same cursor placement, etc.
Pro Supports multiple Markdown dialects
Unfortunately, this is a global setting for save (it can open any dialect)
Pro Immediate Markdown rendering and preview
Texts immediately renders the formatted Markdown as you are typing it inside the text box. It's quite similar to a WYSIWYG editor.
Pro Imports and exports many formats
HTML, Word, TeX, PDF, ePUB, OPML.
Pro Works on Mac OS X and Windows
Cons
Con You need to login to the App, and it reconnects to their server
There is no offline use.
Con Not free
There are free markdown editors for windows, this is not one of them.
Con Needs better folder document management like Ulysses
Con Needs nested folders
Con Bad MarkDown features
Not worth $20, the markdown editor sucks.
Con In beta
The app is not yet complete. A lot of the promised functionality is not yet implemented.
Con Overwrites standard Markdown
Editing a preexisting Markdown document overwrites standard markup in it (for example, interpreting headings marked with leading "#"s and rewriting them with a trailing underscore line), adds extra blank lines between all paragraphs, and adds extra spaces at the head of unordered-list items.
Con Spell checking is not activated by default
There's a built-in spell checker which is not activated by default and is quite hidden.
Con Limited choice of built-in themes
You can download the CSS for these themes and create your own, but would be nice to have more flavors (e.g. GitHub)
Con No word count in older versions
Word count is present in Texts 0.21, at least.