Notescraps Review
I was asked by NoteScraps to review their notetaking software, which is odd because I rarely review software here and even when I do, my endorsement is lukewarm at best. One caveat: They offered a free copy of this $20 software for a review so I can't claim to be unbiased. Then again, I'm not too likely to continue using it afterwards so maybe that won't matter too much.
So here's a walk-through:
The installation process is fairly typical for Windows software. Just run the downloaded .msi file. Two things to note though:
1. The software requires .NET 3.0. On Vista, you're all set. On XP, you'll have to install that prerequisite if you haven't done so already.
2. The installer doesn't let you pick the install location. It always goes to drive C:. This is bad if your C: drive is already full or if you prefer to have your applications on a different drive. Google does that a lot too.
After installation, the NoteScraps starts up.
Adding a new note is easy. Just click on "new note" and then type into the note. Unlike Evernote and Google Notebook, notes in NoteScraps hold only plain text. No bold, no italics, no links, and no pictures. Depending on what you wish to do, this could be very limiting or just right.
Click out of the note and it'll return to a normal size, like the other notes. You can set each note to one of five pastel colors for quick visual identification.
You search for notes by typing into the "Find" input box. Non-matching notes disappear and the matching text is highlighted.
A note with a lot of text shows up a bit bigger and gets its own vertical scroll bar. However, there doesn't appear to be a way to resize the note to make it show more text.
Notetaking software is a very crowded field with low barriers to entry. There are so many open source and freeware notetakers that I'm not sure too many people would pony up the $20 registration fee for this program after taking a look at the alternatives. I used TiddlyWiki myself before switching to Google Notebook. In a pinch, even Vim, whether plain or augmented with plugins such as potwiki.vim, is good enough for managing notes. In any case, best of luck to the NoteScraps folks in developing their product.
So here's a walk-through:
The installation process is fairly typical for Windows software. Just run the downloaded .msi file. Two things to note though:
1. The software requires .NET 3.0. On Vista, you're all set. On XP, you'll have to install that prerequisite if you haven't done so already.
2. The installer doesn't let you pick the install location. It always goes to drive C:. This is bad if your C: drive is already full or if you prefer to have your applications on a different drive. Google does that a lot too.
After installation, the NoteScraps starts up.
Adding a new note is easy. Just click on "new note" and then type into the note. Unlike Evernote and Google Notebook, notes in NoteScraps hold only plain text. No bold, no italics, no links, and no pictures. Depending on what you wish to do, this could be very limiting or just right.
Click out of the note and it'll return to a normal size, like the other notes. You can set each note to one of five pastel colors for quick visual identification.
You search for notes by typing into the "Find" input box. Non-matching notes disappear and the matching text is highlighted.
A note with a lot of text shows up a bit bigger and gets its own vertical scroll bar. However, there doesn't appear to be a way to resize the note to make it show more text.
Notetaking software is a very crowded field with low barriers to entry. There are so many open source and freeware notetakers that I'm not sure too many people would pony up the $20 registration fee for this program after taking a look at the alternatives. I used TiddlyWiki myself before switching to Google Notebook. In a pinch, even Vim, whether plain or augmented with plugins such as potwiki.vim, is good enough for managing notes. In any case, best of luck to the NoteScraps folks in developing their product.