To start writing web pages, we'll use a simple text editor. That way, you'll be able to focus on the code, without getting distracted by the menus and buttons of a complex piece of Web Design software.
If you use Windows, then Notepad is an excellent text editor to use. To launch it, click on your Start menu in the bottom left of your screen. Click on All Programs, then Accessories. From the Accessories folder, select Notepad:
The software should look like this, when it launches:
Another good piece of software is the free Notepad++. You can get a copy here:
Mac and Linux users have a number of text editors available, but finding a free one that is as good as Notepad++ is quite difficult. Bluefish is OK, but looks a bit dated, especially for HTML. You can check it out here:
The free Smultron is worth downloading, if you have a Mac. You can grab a copy here:
For a basic text editor like Notepad, Macs come with TextEdit, which you can find in your Applications folder. You might want to play around with the Preferences, though, or you'll end up with Rich Text rather than Plain Text.
Another good free editor for the Mac is TextWrangler. You can get a copy here:
In the next lesson, we'll take a look at just what is HTML and HTML 5.