The window opens with a blank, gridlike “canvas” in the center. A toolbar sits at the top with various edit, view, and layers options. A toolbox with tools for adding text, scrolling, magnifying, and adding shapes and lines resides below that, as do various objects used for creating a basic flowchart or technical diagram. We immediately jumped in and added specific shapes that represented technical commands, connecting them with lines. For example, the diamond object represents “Decision,” while the circle represents “Connector.” From there, we were able to customize our flowchart by adding colors to our shapes as well as text.

Dia has the ability to create diagrams using UML, or Unified Modeling Language, as well as a long list of other special object categories such as Cisco, Database, and Sybase. After you create your diagram you can style it with labels and boxes and export it to one of the many formats that Dia has, like:

• PNG (Portable Network Graphics);
• JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group);
• SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics);
• DXF (Autocad’s Drawing Interchange format);
• EPS (Encapsulated PostScript);
• WMF (Windows Meta File).

Dia’s wide swath of technical objects makes it perfect for IT professionals, but its basic tools and ease of use make it appropriate even for non-techies. Dia installs and uninstalls cleanly and without issues.

Features :
The file size supported by PilotEdit is unlimited. Edit files larger than 4GB, Download/upload files larger than 4GB through FTP, Encrypt/decrypt files larger than 4GB, Compare files larger than 4GB.
UNICODE files and DOS/UNIX files are fully supported by PilotEdit.Automatically detect text file encoding, Change encoding of multiple files from one kind of encoding to another, PilotEdit will adjust text encoding automatically when you copy/paste between files of different encodings.
Self-defined file types and key words high-lightening. PilotEdit supports more than 20 kinds of file types, Define your own file types, Define different TAB and indent for different file types.
For example, a user may input TAB for C/C++ and four blanks for Java by pressing “TAB”.
HEX mode. Input, delete, cut, copy and paste in HEX mode, Find/replace in HEX mode, Automatically detect file encoding when you change from HEX mode to text mode, Endless undo/redo in both HEX mode and text mode.
Column mode. A char input through keyboard will be inserted into all the selected lines in column mode. A single-line string pasted will be inserted into all the selected lines in column mode. Multiple-line text pasted will be inserted into the selected lines line by line in column mode.
Endless undo/redo. You may undo/redo even after you switch between text mode and HEX mode.
Word wrap. Word wrap is fast even when you are editing a huge file.
Edit FTP files. Open/save as FTP files, Delete multiple FTP directories and files, Upload/download multiple FTP directories and files.
Multiple-line find/replace. Find/replace multiple-line text, Find/replace multiple-line text through regular expression.
File comparison and merging. Compare two directories, Compare and merge two open files, Edit file directly in the comparison window, Automatically update comparison result when the file content changes, Find and replace in the comparison window, Find previous/next different/identical block, Copy all the different/identical lines to the clipboard. With this feature, we can find lines in the first file but not in the second file.
Self-defined string table. Add a pre-defined string by just one click, Add pre-defined strings before and after the selected text.
Regular expression. Find/replace strings defined by regular expression, Find/replace multiple-line text through regular expression.
Script file. You may define the frequently used regular expressions in script files and process the regular expressions by executing the script files.
256-bit AES encryption/decryption. Edit an encrypted file transparently with PilotEdit, Encrypt/decrypt multiple directories and files, Encrypt/decrypt files more than 4G, Save the active file as an encrypted/non-encrypted file, Save the active file as an encrypted/non-encrypted FTP file.
File group. File group enable you to open multiple files by just one click.
Find/replace in multiple directories. Find a string in multiple directories, Replace a string in multiple directories.
Sort. Sort lines in a file in ascending/descending order, Sort lines in a file as text or integer number, Sort lines in a file over one column, Sort lines in a file over target strings defined by regular expression.
Find/remove duplicated lines. Find duplicated lines in a file, Remove duplicated lines in a file, Compare lines as text or integer number, Compare lines over one column, Compare lines over target strings defined by regular expression.
String collection. Copy the target strings matching the regular expression into clipboard. This function is useful when you need to collect some kind of strings from a text file, for example, Email addresses.
Save the selected files as new files with the old directory structure. Copy the selected files together with the directory structure.

Kompozer is an open source web development tool built on NVU. The project strives to fix bugs in the NVU project and added new features to it. Both the HTML editor as well as the CSS editor has so far be fixed and updated as part of the Kompozer project – and many more changes are scheduled. Apart from that the main feature set is exactly as in NVU. And one of the most important features is still that editing take place in WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) mode allowing you full control of layout as you work with your web design.

If you dislike that achy, bloated feeling that other HTML editors can give your computer, KompoZer may be the freeware cure you’re looking for. An open-source Web development tool built on the NVU architecture, KompoZer aims to improve upon the NVU’s bugginess.

It does a fairly admirable job of that, while not being bloatware. Major editing buttons live on the top three-tier toolbar, including a one-click Publishing icon as well as one-clicks for Image insertion and Table and Form creation. Font tweaks like Size and Style live in toolbars just below that, making for easy HTML editing. A Site Manager, including File tree, is anchored on the left, although it can be collapsed, and the WYSIWYG standard means that KompoZer can compete more than adequately with other, better-known editors.

Currently packaged with Portable Apps, KompoZer’s exposure seems to be growing. While this is a good thing, the program lacks a certain finish, potentially making it visually unappealing to “professional” users. Judging from the smooth, bug-free way KompoZer tested for us, it’s definitely aiming to play the same tune that its competitors are.