I only know of one such application...a silly little clock. (there are probably loads of small single purpose apps that are the same story)

Back before I learned any programming, a friend of mine made a small desktop clock for me. When I requested it, I was unaware just how much of a stubborn minimalist he really is.

I gave him an image to use as a guide.
(see attachment in previous post)
This is what I got from him:
(see attachment in previous post)

• When I asked to be able to change the colors and the font, he said no...that would be bloat.
• When I asked for a border on the clock, same answer.
• I asked him to remove the X and put an exit option on a popup menu...nope, he wouldn't do that either.
• How about remember position? nope.

Everything I asked for, I got that same answer....no, that would add bloat.

He says the clock is perfect the way it is and there will not be any adding of features to it or any 'beautifying' ever. (If one discovers a bug, he will fix that, but it does what it does and does it well, so there is no bug fixing needed.) He says it could only be more perfect only if he can find a way to remove more 'bloat' from it and make it even smaller.

This was the application that gave me the push to learn programming. My frustrations from dealing with him lead me to learn how to create my own version with all the bloat features I wanted.

We still argue about this clock, even today, with him still insisting that it is perfect.

For anybody that wants his clock, it's attached to this post. He gave me permission to distribute it. (earlier 'bloated' versions and source are available, bundled, on his site's files page)

... Also, Alexander Davidson's MetaPad 3.5

MetaPad: Light Notepad Replacement

There are all kinds of Notepad replacements out there, and it makes perfect sense why. Notepad is one of those apps that people use because it starts fast, is lightweight, and for most purposes it does what you need it to. And then there are other solutions out there like Notepad++, Notepad2, and many others. For some people even those can be overkill though.

That’s where Metapad comes in. This app just celebrated it’s 10-year anniversary, which means it’s been around the block and back again. It’s withstood the test of time, and yet there are still all kinds of people who swear by this app… and rightfully so. Metapad isn’t meant to be some all-powerful Notepad replacement. Instead its focus remained on staying small in size, but adding features that could be incredibly useful in daily use. This includes things like:

   * Persistent window placement
   * Dirty file notification
   * Intelligent Find and Replace
   * External viewer support (e.g. web browser)
   * Usable accelerator keys (Ctrl+S, Ctrl+N, etc.)
   * Dual customizable font support
   * Optional Quick Exit (Esc key)
   * Configurable tab stop setting
   * Auto-indent mode
   * Go to Line/Column
   * Seamless UNIX text file support
   * Block indent and unindent (Tab, Shift+Tab)
   * Recent files list
   * No file size limit! (under Win9x)
   * Hyperlink support

So how small is this app? The executable weighs in under 100KB, which is pretty incredible. You have to keep in mind though that this app was developed before broadband had started to take off, and so it had to be quick to download over a modem. With that being said if you’re looking for a VERY light Notepad replacement you should definitely give this a shot.

Metapad Homepage (free; Windows only)

... Metapad hasn't been updated since year 2002, except for a minor bug-fix in 2005!!! And yet it is said to be working flawlessly on Vista:
http://liquidninja.com/metapad/

Curt - I'm using Metapad under Vista 64 bit with no problems!...

March 26, 2011   ~   Posted beta 5 which contains a minor refresh to the toolbar. See the change list.

March 12, 2011   ~   Posted beta 4 for Metapad 3.6 which fixes a couple bugs. See the change list.

March 9, 2011   ~   The third beta for Metapad 3.6 adds a simple but powerful new feature. See the change list.

February 26, 2011   ~   A second beta is out for Metapad 3.6. Here's the list of changes.

December 23, 2010   ~   Just in time for the holidays and after many years, I am happy to announce a new version of Metapad: 3.6. It's currently a beta release so there may still be an issue or two. Find out more details on this Metapad 3.6 post on my blog.

http://twitter.com/metapad

Grab the source here:
http://github.com/alexd/metapad

Q:  What is the difference between Full version and LE?

A:  Technically, the full version utilizes a RichEdit control whereas LE (Light Edition) uses the older but slightly speedier Edit control (as does metapad 1.x). LE may be slightly faster when loading very large files but it does not have the following features:

   Multiple undo/redo
   Show hyperlinks option
   Drag & drop text editing
   Insert/overwrite mode switching
   No file size limit on Win9X

Those features are enough for me to strongly recommend the full version over LE. On a modern computer you probably won't notice any speed difference between the two.

Latest Release: Mar 26, 2011
Version 3.6 Beta 5 Version 3.6 LE Beta 5
metapad36beta5.zip metapad36LEbeta5.zip

http://liquidninja.com/metapad/download.html