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HxD VS GNU Emacs

Compare HxD VS GNU Emacs and see what are their differences

HxD logo HxD

HxD is a carefully designed and fast hex editor which, additionally to raw disk editing and...

GNU Emacs logo GNU Emacs

GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editor—and more.
  • HxD Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-31
  • GNU Emacs Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-19

HxD features and specs

  • User-friendly interface
    HxD features an intuitive interface, making it accessible for both novice and experienced users. The layout is well-organized, allowing efficient navigation and usage.
  • Performance and speed
    HxD performs tasks quickly and efficiently, handling large files with ease. Its performance remains consistent even with big datasets.
  • Data visualization
    HxD provides comprehensive data visualization options, enabling users to view data in hexadecimal, binary, and decimal formats. The inclusion of a character pane helps interpret binary data accurately.
  • Extensive functionality
    HxD offers a wide array of features such as checksums, raw data editing, and disk and memory modification capabilities. Advanced searching, filtering, and data analysis tools enhance its utility.
  • Portability
    HxD is available as a portable version, which can be used without installation. This flexibility allows users to work on various systems without administrative privileges.
  • free software
    HxD is free to use, providing powerful features without cost. This makes it an attractive option for individuals and organizations on a budget.

Possible disadvantages of HxD

  • Limited scripting capabilities
    HxD lacks extensive scripting support, which might be an issue for users needing automation for repetitive tasks or complex data manipulations.
  • Windows-only
    HxD is only available for Windows, making it inaccessible to users on other operating systems such as macOS or Linux without using virtualization or compatibility layers.
  • No real-time collaboration
    HxD does not support real-time collaboration features. Teams needing to work simultaneously on the same data would have to rely on alternative methods for sharing and version control.

GNU Emacs features and specs

  • Highly Extensible
    GNU Emacs is highly customizable, allowing users to configure nearly every aspect using Emacs Lisp. This makes it remarkably adaptable for various workflows.
  • Rich Plugin Ecosystem
    There is a wide array of plugins available for Emacs, extending its functionality for programming, text editing, project management, and more.
  • Versatile
    Aside from text editing, Emacs can function as an email client, web browser, terminal emulator, and more, making it a powerful multi-purpose tool.
  • Free and Open Source
    GNU Emacs is free to use and modify, with source code available under the GNU General Public License, encouraging collaborative improvement and transparency.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Emacs runs on many different operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and various Unix-like systems, ensuring a wide reach and consistent experience across platforms.

Possible disadvantages of GNU Emacs

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its vast array of features and unique keybindings, new users often find Emacs difficult to learn initially.
  • Performance
    Emacs can be slower compared to more lightweight text editors, especially when heavily customized or handling large files.
  • Keyboard-Centric Interface
    Emacs relies heavily on keyboard shortcuts, which can be overwhelming and complex, leading to potential finger strain from extensive use.
  • Complex Configuration
    While its customizability is a strength, configuring Emacs to fit personal needs can be time-consuming and complex, requiring knowledge of Emacs Lisp.

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GNU Emacs videos

Switching to GNU Emacs

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to HxD and GNU Emacs)
IDE
36 36%
64% 64
Text Editors
12 12%
88% 88
Software Development
59 59%
41% 41
Decompiler
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare HxD and GNU Emacs

HxD Reviews

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GNU Emacs Reviews

14 BEST LaTeX Editor for Mac & Windows in 2022
Emacs is a Unix based text editor tool which is used by programmers, engineers, students, and system administrators. It is one of the best LaTeX editor for Mac that allows you to add, modify, delete, insert, words, letters, lines, and other units of text.
Source: www.guru99.com
The Top 7 Notepad++ Alternatives for You
Emacs has been around in its various forms since 1976 and is another very worthy Notepad++ alternative. When I first started using Emacs I have to admit that I didn’t find it the easiest to use. But once I got used to it I realized just how powerful Emacs is for the programming community.
10 Best Notepad++ Alternatives in 2020
Emacs is a Unix based text editor tool which is used by programmers, engineers, students, and system administrators. It allows you to add, modify, delete, insert, words, letters, lines, and other units of text.
Source: www.guru99.com
7 open source alternatives to Dreamweaver
Vim or Emacs. Without participating in the holy war between these two traditional text editors, I can safely say that there are a number of enhancements for web editing available for both. So if you're already a terminal junkie, take your pick. Or, if those don't satisfy, try one of these Emacs/Vim alternatives.
Source: opensource.com
10 Best Sublime Text Alternatives in 2019
Emacs is a Unix based text editor tool which is used by programmers, engineers, students, and system administrators. It allows you to add, modify, delete, insert, words, letters, lines, and other units of text.
Source: www.guru99.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, HxD seems to be a lot more popular than GNU Emacs. While we know about 65 links to HxD, we've tracked only 6 mentions of GNU Emacs. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

HxD mentions (65)

  • How to Embed Binary Data into a Win32 Executable File in 4 Methods
    HxD Editor - A utility to export the binary file offset as a C/C++ source file. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • HexWalk – Hex Editor/Viewer/Analyzer
    How does it compare to HxD? https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • 2 TB SSD turned to 1TB SSD by repair software, is there a way to get the files recovered?
    By the sound of what happened it's possible that all files residing in the last 1TB got TRIMMed (https://www.300dollardatarecovery.com/trim/) by first aid. Can you check the corrupted videos with a hex editor (for example https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/) to see if they contain any information at all? If they got trimmed there will be large swathes of either 0xff or 0x00. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Bakugan Battle Brawlers Save File Editing Helper (Wii/PS3 and potentially other console versions)
    You don't need to know anything about Hex-Editing to use this. You are only required to know how to copy-paste. That being said, you will need a Hex-Editor program and to know your save-file's location. I personally use HxD: https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Visual Boy Advance Saving As 64KB Instead Of 128KB - Doesn't Work On Cartridge
    Also, notepad is only good for editing text, not binary files. You should use a hex editor. I personally use HxD. I also found this online hex editor called HexEd.it. Source: almost 2 years ago
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GNU Emacs mentions (6)

  • Emacs daemon as sytemd service in debian 12 (gnome)
    Cat .config/systemd/user/default.target.wants/emacs.service [Unit] Description=Emacs text editor Documentation=info:emacs man:emacs(1) https://gnu.org/software/emacs/ [Service] Type=notify ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/emacs --fg-daemon # Emacs will exit with status 15 after having received SIGTERM, which # is the default "KillSignal" value systemd uses to stop services. SuccessExitStatus=15 # The location of the... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Why does emacs exec path variable not just copy the users path variable?
    ## If your Emacs is installed in a non-standard location, you may need ## to copy this file to a standard directory, eg ~/.config/systemd/user/ . ## If you install this file by hand, change the "Exec" lines below ## to use absolute file names for the executables. [Unit] Description=Emacs text editor Documentation=info:emacs man:emacs(1)... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Hi DM's, what medium do you use to organise your campaign?
    For gathering notes, writing and organizing, Org-Roam which implies Org and Emacs. Source: over 2 years ago
  • This Guy is getting out of control at this point.
    I was heading to gnu.org/software/emacs to prove my point and it said:. Source: over 3 years ago
  • opam doesn't see emacs?
    <><> Version-specific details <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 🐫 Version 1 Repository default Homepage: "http://gnu.org/software/emacs" Bug-reports: "https://github.com/ocaml/opam-repository/issues" Authors: "anil@recoil.org" Maintainer: "anil@recoil.org" License: "GPL-1.0-or-later" Flags: conf Synopsis Virtual package to install the Emacs editor Description This... Source: over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing HxD and GNU Emacs, you can also consider the following products

010 Editor - 010 Editor: Professional hex editor with Binary Templates. A fast, flexible, easy-to-use hex editor.

VS Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

WinHex - WinHex hex editor, disk editor, RAM editor. Binary editor for files, disks, and RAM. Download HEX EDITOR. Sector editor. Drive editor.

Sublime Text - Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Fully customizable with macros, and syntax highlighting for most major languages.

IDA - The best-of-breed binary code analysis tool, an indispensable item in the toolbox of world-class software analysts, reverse engineers, malware analyst and cybersecurity professionals.

Vim - Highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing