"Apple provides a set of developer tools with every Mac. It’s called Xcode. It is an optional install in the OS X install DVD. Xcode provides three similar tools to edit a plist file in a way that is so common-sense (to me, anyway) that I find it hard to imagine anyone using any other tool for editing a plist, especially paying money for something that is already free. These tools are Xcode, Property List Editor, and Dashcode. I find it difficult to imagine that any other tool for editing a plist can make it any easier to use than what Apple has done."Notice in the image below how many different applications are compatible with editing a plist file when I right-click on a plist file:

"Not everyone will see all those applications. Notice that Property List Editor is the default. That makes sense to me. In that list, only Coda and TextWrangler are not part of the Developer’s Xcode tool kit. My preference would be to use Xcode, as it offers far more features than any of the others, but Property List Editor offers simplified methods for quick edits that would require no special handling. "For those who didn’t choose to optionally install the Xcode package from their install DVD, they can download the latest version from Apple. And if anyone is wondering if they need to download Xcode, the answer is no. It is something that simply adds to a Mac developer’s toolbox of goodies." Now John adds, "In Lion, the Property List Editor has been dropped as a standalone application. It is now fully integrated in XCode. If you click 'open with...' on a .plist-file and select XCode.app, XCode will bring up the Property List Editor, but it's no standalone app anymore."