Edlin is a line editor, and the only text editor provided with early versions of IBM PC DOS,[1] MS-DOS and OS/2.[2] Although superseded in MS-DOS 5.0 and later by the full-screen MS-DOS Editor, and by Notepad in Microsoft Windows, it continues to be included in the 32-bit versions of current Microsoft operating systems.
edit: link and explanation of syntax used if anyone is interested. the w (write) and q (quit) commands made it somewhat similar to VI(M).
https://www.computerhope.com/edlin.htm
That tool was only included with Windows XP Professional, and even then, it was a command-line utility—so unless you were specifically looking for it or browsing through the %windir%\system32 directory, you probably wouldn’t have noticed it.
The article I referenced didn’t specify exactly which 32-bit versions it came with or when it was removed—it just mentioned that it was still included in 32-bit Windows after the DOS era. I didn’t write the article myself, so I can’t really speak to its accuracy.
Personally, I used that edline a lot back in the DOS days starting around 1985, until I switched to Notepad in Windows 95 and later to VIM when I moved to Linux after Windows 98. I never really checked for it in newer versions of Windows after that. A quick Google search confirmed it wasn’t included in XP Home, which would explain why you never saw it.
edlin was my favorite for a long time 🙂
Edlin is a line editor, and the only text editor provided with early versions of IBM PC DOS,[1] MS-DOS and OS/2.[2] Although superseded in MS-DOS 5.0 and later by the full-screen MS-DOS Editor, and by Notepad in Microsoft Windows, it continues to be included in the 32-bit versions of current Microsoft operating systems.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edlin
edit: link and explanation of syntax used if anyone is interested. the w (write) and q (quit) commands made it somewhat similar to VI(M). https://www.computerhope.com/edlin.htm
why did i never see it on my 32bit winxp then
Were you using Windows XP Home, by any chance?
That tool was only included with Windows XP Professional, and even then, it was a command-line utility—so unless you were specifically looking for it or browsing through the %windir%\system32 directory, you probably wouldn’t have noticed it.
The article I referenced didn’t specify exactly which 32-bit versions it came with or when it was removed—it just mentioned that it was still included in 32-bit Windows after the DOS era. I didn’t write the article myself, so I can’t really speak to its accuracy.
Personally, I used that edline a lot back in the DOS days starting around 1985, until I switched to Notepad in Windows 95 and later to VIM when I moved to Linux after Windows 98. I never really checked for it in newer versions of Windows after that. A quick Google search confirmed it wasn’t included in XP Home, which would explain why you never saw it.
Link to the forum I found this information about XP in: http://murc.ws/forum/hardware/general-hardware-software/49698-omg-edlin-still-lives-in-xp#post755768
(edit: fixed a typo, added reference link)
OHHHHH THAT EXPLAINS IT
yes im a home user