A side of notes

One of my favourite Mac freeware apps of all time is Sidenote. It runs in the background, with the only evidence of its existence being a two-pixel-wide strip on the side of the monitor ready to be hovered so it can slide out for your note-taking pleasure.

It piqued my curiosity, needless to say, when I discovered there is a competitor to Sidenote called SlidePad. It, too, hides on the side of the monitor. And it, too, can be made to slide into view when you want to jot a note.

It didn’t take much testing, though, to discover that SlidePad falls short in both features and implementation. Let me count the ways:

1. Viewing: With Sidenote, you move your mouse to the side of the screen (which side is your choice) and the app slips into view. You also use a keyboard shortcut, which by default is control-D. It’s reassuring also to have that sliver of white on the side so you know it’s there.

SlidePad can also be brought out from your choice of sides with a mouse move, but it then stays out and can only be put away with a keyboard shortcut — option-Space (or by clicking on a menu item). And when it’s hidden, it’s hidden — no clues exist to its whereabouts.

2. Icons: SlidePad runs like any other program with an icon in the dock and menus you can click in the menu bar.

Sidenote has none of that — just the aforementioned sliver of white, the height of which can be configured. It truly is a background app that gets out of your way.

3. Options: Sidenote allows you to print, email and export your notes. You can add an image via a screen capture service. You can categorize your notes with colour coding — although I would like to see an option for naming the categories.

SlidePad also exports and prints, but there is no option for email. As with Sidenote, you can drag and drop an image, but but there is no facility for screenshots. The one advantage I could find is that it allows you to reorder your notes.

4. Development: Sidenote has been without support for the past few months as the developer finishes his thesis. Pierre Chatel says that will be done this month, so we’re hoping Sidenote will soon be back on track.

SlidePad appears to be a giveaway designed to draw attention to shareware offered by Dare to be Creative. This is not a bad idea and raises hopes that features will be added to make it more compelling.

For now, Sidenote is the clear winner. But competition is a good thing, and Dare to be Creative has many good programs, including the well-received MainMenu — so we have high expectations.

Posted Wednesday, January 6, 2010 in

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Comments are open

  1. I think it ‘piqued your curiosity’, not ‘peaked by curiosity’. Nice article, thank you!

    Dan

  2. Good catch. Can I hire you as a proof reader? Unfortunately, there’s no pay . . .

    Mark





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