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EDITOR NOTES
This is a beta release. See Related Links below for the last stable release.
DESCRIPTION
Aquamacs... This is a preview version. Version 1.9 is our latest stable release and recommended for mission-critical use.
Aquamacs Emacs is a Mac-like distribution of the powerful Emacs text editor. It looks and behaves like a Mac program - even though it's still GNU Emacs with all the extensibility that millions have come to appreciate.
Emacs is a text editor of legendary power and configurability, but it also has an enormously complex interface. Aquamacs tames the Emacs tiger: you get Apple shortcuts (in addition to the Emacs ones), nice fonts, one file per window (if wanted), international input methods, Apple Help manuals and more. Aquamacs comes with a range of modes for various markup and programming languages: HTML, C/C++, Java, Python, Perl, AppleScript, Tcl, XML, R (S)... These modes have extra functions for the languages, including excellent syntax highlighting. You can even use Aquamacs to read news and e-mail, just like any Emacs.
WHAT'S NEW
Version 2.0preview3:
- Aquamacs is now based on Emacs 23 and the Cocoa (NextStep) port. There are many changes under the hood associated with this. A few functions don't work right just yet, and we recommend neither this preview of Aquamacs 2.0 nor the Emacs 23.1 for mission-critical production use. Please help the Aquamacs team complete the transition by contributing code and fixes or, if that's not possible, a donation. Here, we report the changes between Emacs 22 and Emacs 23 with respect to the Aquamacs distribution. Further changes can be found in the NEWS file for Emacs 23.
- Aquamacs has a new icon in the Dock, designed by graphic designer Jessica Walker (jekawacaneer@gmail.com).
- The Aquamacs application has been renamed to Aquamacs.app (from Aquamacs Emacs.app).
- Spell-checking now uses the system-wide dictionaries in all the languages supported on OS X. The standard spelling user interface is available as well as the traditional Emacs 'ispell' interface (which also uses the system-wide spelling mechanism). Configure the use of GNU 'aspell' through the 'ispell-program-name' variable if desired. Code by Nathaniel Cunningham.
- Dialogs have been vastly improved: they appear as sheets over the frames where they belong, contain better UI elements (as in the case of the dialog displayed before quitting Aquamacs, which was once called "dialog from hell" before receiving a makeover). The standard Enter, Space and Esc keys (and more) are supported.
- Toolbars can now be configured through the normal customization panel. Right-click on the toolbar, use the Options/View menu item (or use M-x ns-tool-bar-customize). The chosen icons are persistent; toolbar customizations are, however, tied to the toolbars set by modes. That means that users can chose a different set of icons to display in latex-mode, for instance.
- The 'ns-tool-bar-display-mode' variable now supports label-only toolbars. Right-click on the toolbar to change; or use M-x customize or Preferences.el to set it to 'labels' in order to only show labels. The former meaning of this value (showing labels and icons) is now 'both' (or, usually, nil, the default).
- Fonts and colors of all (mode-specific) faces can now be configured using the standard font and color panels. The Options / Appearance menu provides a function to show the font panel, which leads to buttons for foreground and background colors. We also have a menu item for the color panel separately, from where colors can be dragged&dropped directly onto any piece of text to customize its face. Holding down the Option key will, instead, set the face's background color.
- The printing system has been revised; the standard print and page setup dialogs are used inside the application. The print dialog now appears more quickly. (Note: over-long lines will always be wrapped at word boundaries when printing. Clipping or horizontal pagination are not supported at this time.)
- When printing, double spaces are formatted as such and can be used to align text. Reported by George Nurser.
- HTML and PDF export functions have changed: PDF export can be achieved as in any Mac application via the Print dialog. Use the new Copy as HTML function in the Edit menu to copy formatted text including all the coloring into the clipboard in HTML format. Many other applications, including presentation software, can then display the formatted text and keep it editable.
- Keyboard bindings are displayed more consistently in the menus now. Throughout Aquamacs, Mac standard key descriptions are used (this may be configured using the variable 'ns-use-mac-modifier-symbols'). Users should be aware that manuals and tutorials will often refer to keys such as C-x (X or Control X), and that keys like M-q correspond to the chosen Meta key modifier, normally the Option key.
- Fullscreen mode works largely as before in 10.6; in older versions of OS X, it will unconditionally take over the full screen (Dock and menu are not visible).
- 'aquamacs-find-file' (C-x C-f) will ask for confirmation if you first complete partial filename input in the minibuffer, but then attempt to create a new file.
- Completion is, in many cases, more powerful by completing to the left and the right of the input string. Customize the option 'completion-styles' to control this.
- Internally, Emacs is based on a superset of Unicode now. Emacs also uses Cocoa, a modern technology that facilitates program development and maintenance, supports 64-bit computing on Macs and allows for better integration of applications with the operating system and other applications.
- As per Emacs 23, Aquamacs now supports multi-file commits in distributed version-control systems through the VC-dir package.
- Soft wrapping is called 'visual-line-mode' internally now, and the former Aquamacs mode of the same name is now a customization variable called 'line-move-visual', which is enabled by default. 'Longlines-mode' is considered obsolete. Users with manual customizations should adjust their settings.
- .wiki files now open in wikipedia-mode.
- Aquamacs uses "Python-mode" by default now for Python source files. Users who prefer the original Emacs python package can switch by including (require 'python) in their Preferences.el file. Code by Barry Warsaw.
- Ruby mode has been revised to match and track the latest version included with GNU Emacs.
- Many more improvements between Emacs 22 and Emacs 23. See etc/NEWS at http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/NEWS.23.1. NB, many of the items listed there do not apply to Mac OS X.
- DocView mode is no longer used to display PDF and other files (it didn't work well).
REQUIREMENTS
Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
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| Aquamacs User Reviews (24 posts) | Write A Review |
 | Sep 27 2006 |
JOHN NOWAK First off: No, it is not a beautiful Cocoa editor. It isn't supposed to be. It is supposed to be a Mac version of emacs that doesn't require X11 and integrates a bit better with the system -- And it does that. Very solid documentation, good stability, lots of included packages, good concept, and a wonderful implementation.
(Version 0.9.9d) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
 | May 9 2006 |
IFX It is very disappointing to hear negative comments about this gem of software, just because of a couple of icons that are not in the taste of some readers. Apparently there is a deep ignorance in part of the current Mac community about Free Software. Apparently there is also deep ignorance about the outstanding contributions of Richard Stallman and his beautiful creature, Emacs. Maybe this is due to the massive Apple campain to have win users to switch, which will eventually poison the community. But what I would like is that people think and get documented before commenting. Emacs and VI have been the only two free, powerful, programmable and customizable text editors for ages. Platform independent. If someone does not understand programming languages and lisp, then she better avoid commenting about Emacs. If someone writes documents in M$ Word and similar crap editors, because he does not know how to use LaTeX, then he better stay silent about Emacs. I've been using Emacs for 15 years over several Unix platforms and it never (yes, never) let me down with a lost file because of a crash. Aquamacs, in particular, is the best possible incarnation of Emacs in MacOs. If someone needs some silly aqua-fresh look then she better use TextEdit or buy herself some expensive license. He probably cannot even tell the difference between TextEdit and a programmable editor.
(Version 0.9.9c) | |
| [ 3 Replies - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Dec 12 2006 |
MDMUNOZ Wow. Let me say this: contrary to what you imply, there are other (read: not emacs) open-source editors for the mac that integrate completely into the os, follow human interface guidelines, and aren't bloated with 30 megs of crap. Emacs can do lots of neat things, but it's clunky and unusable for a lot of people. Alluding to some sort of windows-switcher ignorance or love of eye-candy won't save you from the reality that emacs is bloated and anachronistic. Most people want to actually edit text in a way that is intuitive, simple, and plays nice with their operating system. if you want to spend all day writing lisp hacks so you can attempt to finally create that Photoshop emacs extension that has so long kept it from being its own operating system, more power to you. But that's no reason to whine about the "ignorace" of the Mac community.
(Version 0.9.9d) | |
| Jun 19 2008 |
MRGANDO I use TextMate for my editing, please point me to other "Free Open Source full Aqua appearance" OS X editors ( for programming of course , or laTex ). This is a great piece of software, I say so even if I haven't used emacs at all ever ( I always used VI ).
(Version 1.4) | |
| Oct 31 2008 |
JJL Aquamacs is now a lovely size 134.4 MB in its .app directory, somewhat voluptuous compared to twiggy TextMate's 29.9 MB. However, they both zip along gracefully on two cores clocking 2.3 GHz. A twenty-year marriage to emacs can't be without some nostalgia and a quiet reverence for the many occasions emacs has saved my life, my ambitions, or, at minimum, my sanity, on no fewer than a dozen distinct operating environments. Aquamacs 1.5, in D. Reitter's caring and thoughtful hands, shines in its elegant, talented demonstrations of refined, tested, experienced design. In OS 10.5.5, I do prefer TextMate to any other among its peers. It is a young code-base, but plainly brilliant and prodigious. It has the great advantage of having lived it's most formative years contemporaneous with OS X, and this shows in its resilience and creativity with the networked, many-tiered problems that have come to fore in modern times. Frankly, I adore them both.
(Version 1.5) | |
| Nov 20 2005 |
CHIPSTER Absolutely fanstastic. Thanks. Even from this old Vim fanatic, this app is highly recommended.
(Version 0.9.7) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
 | Dec 29 2008 |
DAVIDSWELT If you're on a PPC Mac and you downloaded 1.6preview4 on Monday Dec 29, you may encounter a problem with the Finder refusing to run Aquamacs ("not for this architecture"). We've fixed this - just download again. If you're not on PPC, there is no need to download it again.
(Version 1.6pre4) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Jul 29 2008 |
PIXIEMOTION Aquamacs has become a really mature Emacs for OS X; the balance between Mac usability and Emacs power is near-perfect. If you've never used any Emacs before, this is the best way to get to know it. If you have used Emacs before, this is the best Mac distribution.
(Version 1.5rc1) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Jun 19 2008 |
MRGANDO This is a great piece of software, the Apple Scientific and some of the developer communities will make great use of this software. | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Nov 20 2005 |
ANONYMOUS Not an Aqua app. Period.
(Version 0.9.7) | |
| [ 2 Replies - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Nov 20 2005 |
ANONYMOUS That's the point, period. It's Emacs
(Version 0.9.7) | |
| Nov 21 2005 |
ANONYMOUS ... getting more and more Aqua with every new version!
(Version 0.9.7) | |
| Oct 27 2009 |
DAVIDSWELT Note: This is a preview version. We regularly maintain and recommend version 1.9 for mission-critical use. The correct version name of this is "2.0preview3".
(Version 2.0pr3) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Jun 30 2009 |
PENG BAI Good app! I use it for Latex and Python. However, poor at Python, so plug-in needed. I hope Python can be enhanced in this app:) | |
| [ 4 Replies - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Jul 1 2009 |
DAVIDSWELT which plug-in do you use?
(Version 1.8a) | |
| Jul 2 2009 |
PENG BAI python-mode
(Version 1.8a) | |
| Jul 2 2009 |
DAVIDSWELT Actually, Aquamacs already comes with python-mode and all you need to do is We will enable this variant by default for python in future 2.0 series releases. Thanks for your input.
(Version 1.8a) | |
| Jul 5 2009 |
PENG BAI Fabulous!!! It works perfectly. Sorry for that comment. How can I know what you have bundled in this app?
(Version 1.8a) | |
| Jun 22 2009 |
DAVIDSWELT Want to check out our latest work? Download a nightly build of the new 2.0 branch, which is based on Cocoa and Emacs 23. It's far from perfect yet, but already quite usable: http://aquamacs.org/nightlies.shtml
(Version 1.8a) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
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| View all 24 posts >> |
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