Good text/code editor

Hey
What's a good code/text editor? Something like notepad but that highlights html code, strings etc. And I don't want it to choke on big files like notepad does...

There's no debating the power behind that. How about a better interface though?

I can have the most powerful computer in the world at my fingertips, but I doubt I'd enjoy it much if the only interface available was a teletype.