I love a feature of notepad++ where when you have documents open and exit, it won't bother you with a save dialog and when you open it again the previous state will be there. I found that mousepad on linux can do this.

For something functionality close I would look at Kate.

I love and hate it at the same time, just like my browser tabs hoarding, it means I currently have 218 open documents on Notepad++ (and 96 browser tabs). I might not even need them anymore, but it's always "I'll look at them... later".

For the browser you can use something like Session Buddy. Save the session and move on secure in the knowledge that the tabs are there IF you need them.

https://sessionbuddy.com/

Geany. Both npp and geany use the same editor component.

A lite (without node) version of Zed could be it.

Sublime Text. I think it's better than Notepad++ and is available for all computer platforms, not just Windows.

I don’t think licensed software is a valid alternative to freeware.

Sublime maybe?

vim :)