
At the Build 2025 Developer Conference, Microsoft unveiled a brand-new command-line editor named Edit, designed as a tribute to the classic MS-DOS editor while embracing a modern interface and input controls reminiscent of Microsoft Visual Studio Code.
Microsoft’s ambition is to create an editor that is highly accessible—even to those unfamiliar with terminal environments. Edit supports both Windows and Linux platforms, offering a compelling alternative to traditional command-line editors like vim and nano for the Linux community.
Simplicity is at the heart of Edit. Users need only download and run the bundled executable to get started. The editor already supports essential features such as: creating new files, opening existing ones, saving and saving as, undo/redo, cut, copy, paste, find, and replace.
At present, Microsoft has not disclosed any plans to integrate AI services into Edit. Should such integration occur in the future, it may align more closely with intelligent note-taking applications. However, given its nature as a lightweight text editor, the inclusion of AI may be deemed unnecessary.
It is worth noting that the current build of Edit is not digitally signed with Microsoft’s certificate. As a result, Windows Defender may issue a warning upon execution. Since Defender queries file metadata online, users might experience a delay of several seconds before the editor launches normally.