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PpcSoft All Deals Productivity Software Notes Software

PpcSoft iKnow

Manage the pain of information overload!

$249

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Platforms: Windows XP, Vista, 7

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PpcSoft iKnow, Notes Software Screenshot

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Just like it's difficult to use a computer screen covered in sticky notes or a day-planner without any blank space left for planning, it's difficult to use your brain if it's stuffed full of random, disorganized information.

And yet that's how most of us operate on a daily basis.

So why not let PpcSoft iKnow do the organizing while you get back to the thinking!

PpcSoft iKnow is a feature-laden information organization application. It uses the smart features you would expect from an information organization package (shortcut keys, quick search, full-text search, etc.), but also introduces some innovative ways to synthesize your information.

PpcSoft iKnow allows you to organize your thought process via the four "C"s: collect, convert, connect, and create. Once you have collected your information, and converted it into notes or overviews that are meaningful to you, PpcSoft iKnow makes it easy connect the information by using note titles as autolinks. In other words, if you have a product named "buzzles" everytime you mention "buzzles" in another note, it will automatically be stored as a link to your notes on "buzzles". Oh so easy, but oh so elegant!

Once everything is collected, converted and connected, all that's left is to "create new knowledge" by assigning larger meaning to all those scraps of information.

Please note: Today's PpcSoft iKnow promotion is for all three editions -- Home, Standard, and Professional. Please take a look at the comparison matrix for a detailed overview of the differences.

Review Written by Andrew Dick

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Mr. Yoop As the concept of PpcSoft iKnow is focused on information management and seems quit powerful, I wonder if this knowledge database can be used on more than one computer. In more detail:

a.) Is there a synchronization mechanism to synchronize a common database that is updated on a desktop PC and a netbook/laptop?
b.) Is it possible to use the iKnow license on more than one PC that are not used at the same time, i.e. on a desktop PC an a netbook/laptop?
c.) Are there any plans or existing extensions for an iKnow access by several PCs, e.g. on a network drive? I have some kind of iKnow base with private and public content that can be updated by several users in parallel in mind...

Thanks for your support! Best regards,

Mr. Yoop

Jan 9 2010 at 5:57pm Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi Mr. Yoop,

yes, the license allows you to use PpcSoft iKnow on as many computers as you want as long as these are used only by a single person (typically office computer, home computer and laptop)

a) No, PpcSoft iKnow is designed for professional use and the data are only stored locally (many organizations want control of their users' data).

However, you may choose to store the datafile on a USB-stick or other removable media, or you may choose to use a 3rd party synchronization service like DropBox to synchronize for you.

(see http://www.ppcsoft.com/bl...zation.asp for an explanation on how to use DropBox)

b) Yes (answer at the top)

c) No, there are no (immediate) plans to share a common datafile with several users. PpcSoft iKnow is designed for your *personal* data.

However, we are considering it for the future, but there are a lot of issues with regards to securing your data, access control, revision history etc which should be implemented for such a feature. So it will not be considered for the 2010 release at least.

Thank you for your questions - any other questions or comments are most welcome !

Atle Iversen
PpcSoft

PpcSoft - Jan 10 2010 at 1:11am Copy Link

Steve Newport Hello,

it looks like this is a great and powerful software but how much would the the upgrade cost after one year? Thanks.

Jan 10 2010 at 7:50am Copy Link

Peter pereh No offense, but this looks like a very expensie version of something like 'azzcardfile', with an upgrade fee of $50 after 1 year.

Jan 10 2010 at 8:18am Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi Steve Newport,

this is the full Professional version which includes 12 months of free updates, maintenance and support.

This means that PpcSoft iKnow 2010 which is planned to be released 3Q2010 is included for free.

If you want to upgrade after that, the maintenance cost is 20% of retail price, i.e. $49.95 (20% of $249).

Please note that minor changes and bug fixes are included for free.

Also note that PpcSoft iKnow works for XP, Vista and Windows 7, and is designed to work flawlessly on future versions of Windows. This means that you (probably) won't have to upgrade in the near future unless you *really* want some of the exciting new features we're planning :-)

And at that point you'll hopefully find PpcSoft iKnow so useful that you'll get your employer to purchase it for you !

PpcSoft - Jan 10 2010 at 8:39am Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi Peter Pereh,

no offense taken :-)

PpcSoft iKnow *Professional* is a tool designed for professional knowledge workers, and includes upgrades, full maintenance and support for 1 year.

If you want a simpler solution without any support or upgrades, you can get our Lite version for free (limited to 100 notes).

PpcSoft - Jan 10 2010 at 8:48am Copy Link

John M This looks like an excellent replacement for my so far favorite UltraRecall, thanks a LOT for this deal! -- It just needs to have the possiblity of cross-files hyperlinking to be the best thing ever, but I guess it will come soon, too. (; Am I right? ;)

Jan 11 2010 at 2:12am Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi John M,

with "cross-files hyperlinking" I assume you mean hyperlinking between two iKnow datafiles ? This is not possible today, and *probably* not in the near future as it goes against the design philosophy of PpcSoft iKnow.

PpcSoft iKnow is designed to keep *all* your information in *one* file - this means you'll always be able to find it by searching all the notes, and this also means you maximize the power of the Autolinks. It also means that there is only *one* datafile to backup/copy/synchronize if you want to do that.

If you use several data files, you may have trouble finding the information you're looking for (as you may have the wrong datafile open).

However, there may be situations where you want to use two (or more) separate datafiles (for example one for personal data and one for work data). In this case, you cannot link them together, but you can quickly change the datafile using the File Menu.

In addition (for advanced users), PpcSoft iKnow is designed to be able to run separate "copies". If you simply copy and rename the iknow.exe file you'll get a complete new "version" of iKnow that can be run at the same time with its own settings and its own datafile. We have even included a separate hotkey for this (F12 for iknow.exe, Ctrl+F12 for any other name).

But for most users, you should keep *all* your data in *one* file. This will automatically be remembered for you so that you don't have to bother about the concept of "files" or "folders" at all.

PpcSoft - Jan 11 2010 at 3:24am Copy Link

Steve Newport Hi Atle Iversen,

I really like your product but I ran into a big problem today: F12 is already used by some of my installed software when they have focus. Is there a way to change the shortcut for show / hide iKnow or at least disable it? I makes iKnow almost unusable for me because I want to run it all the time. It is also very unusual to me that a software will assign a global hotkey and with F12 a very often used one - at least in my configuration.

Thanks.

Jan 12 2010 at 7:50am Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi Steve Newport,

yes, it is possible to disable the global hotkey.
- right-click the shortcut to iKnow and select 'Properties'
- select the 'Shortcut' tab (usually automatic)
- add the text "nohotkey" in the target field
(e.g., "C:\Program Files\iKnow\iKnow.exe" nohotkey)

and you're done.

F12 was chosen based on feedback from our beta-users, but there will always be some power-users who needs it for something else :-).

Unfortunately there is no way to change the global shortcut in this version - we have tried to avoid having any options at all to make it easier for our users.

But if enough people request this, we may re-consider in the future :-).

PpcSoft - Jan 12 2010 at 8:18am Copy Link

Steve Newport Hi Atle Iversen,

Thank you for your help. I already found a workaround (from your previous tips here): I just renamed the iknow.exe got get CTRL-F12 as hotkey. This is not so problematic but I would prefer to define my own hotkey so hopefully you will get enough requests.

Can you also tell something about the featues you plan for Version 2010? Thanks again.

Jan 13 2010 at 12:45am Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi Steve Newport,

our goal is to create the easiest-to-use, most efficient and most usable information manager in the world. We have the same philosophy as Apple - we don't tell our future plans (too much) in advance.

Our focus is to make it even easier (more/better help), more efficient (if possible) and more usable (e.g., improving the AutoPreview feature). We want *all* knowledge workers to be able to use PpcSoft iKnow, not only the technical experts and power users (as most of the BitsDuJour readers probably are).

We'll try very hard to avoid any major changes in the user interface - we want the transition from 2009 to 2010 to be as smooth as possible. But we have already said too much :-)

We prefer *improved* features before *more* features, and we will not make any promises we can't keep !

PpcSoft - Jan 13 2010 at 5:54am Copy Link

john williamson So if I buy on the 17th I'll be getting the version that stores up to 100 000 notes?

Jan 13 2010 at 6:35am Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi John Williamson - Yes, the Professional version is the top version that stores up to 100 000 notes !

PpcSoft - Jan 13 2010 at 7:49am Copy Link

No Name @Peter pereh - This doesn't look anything like the software you quoted, but a lot more powerful. That one looks more like a regular note-taking software. For $20, I might try this one, though that upgrade price is pretty steep!

Jan 13 2010 at 10:06am Copy Link

Atle Iversen With regards to the upgrade price:
- $50 for 1 year is $4 per month, or $1 per week
- you'll get both upgrades *and* support

Quality support is expensive. If you want support from Microsoft, it will cost $59 *per incident* for XP/Vista support - and good luck trying to get support from Google for any of their free services. Adobe charges from $29 to $249 for per-incident support.

The main reason this is so expensive is that they offer telephone support. We only offer e-mail support to keep the price low.

And again - you probably don't *have* to upgrade PpcSoft iKnow Professional as it should work perfectly fine the next 5-10 years regardless of which Windows version you're using.

PpcSoft - Jan 14 2010 at 4:09am Copy Link

Jane Boyd I am baffled by PpcSoft iKnow. The Web site makes it sound like a "must have" program for anyone interested in capturing and working with information, but I have to say that after using it for a little while I am completely underwhelmed. The program does little of anything and at $249 is insanely overpriced.

The web site indicates you can capture any content - web pages, pdf's etc. but I couldn't find any way of doing this. All you can do is copy text from web pages etc. into the program. And even worse you can't include images in your content. It is little more than a simple wiki. If that's all you want look at ZuluPad et.all.

Programs such as Evernote, Surfulater and OneNote are far more powerful Knowledge Managers and much cheaper. Sorry but I wouldn't even buy it at 92% off.

Jan 14 2010 at 8:22am Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi Jane Boyd (and everyone else),

PpcSoft iKnow is not a perfect fit for everyone - and thankfully there are hundreds of alternatives out there that could be better for *you*.

PpcSoft iKnow is not "a dumping ground" for your files; if you want to store web pages, pdf's etc directly we highly recommend Evernote or OneNote. We only allow text intentionally (but you may link to files and web pages):
- http://www.ppcsoft.com/iknow-collect.asp

However, if you want an easy-to-use, efficient and very usable personal knowledge management tool we believe PpcSoft iKnow is a better tool than both Evernote and Ms OneNote for many people.

If you want our quick summary of which tool we recommend for you:
- http://www.ppcsoft.com/bl...ernote.asp

You could also consider it a *very powerful* personal wiki:
- http://www.ppcsoft.com/bl...l-wiki.asp

Most of the power of PpcSoft iKnow is "under the hood" - try adding a couple of hundreds (or thousands) of notes in PpcSoft iKnow, Evernote and MS OneNote and *then* tell us which is more useful, faster and easier to use.

We focus a lot on productivity, usability and simplicity - but don't let your first impression fool you; PpcSoft iKnow is very powerful even if we try to minimize the number of (visible) features.

We have started to document all of the unique usability aspects in our blog:
- http://www.ppcsoft.com/bl...-index.asp

In summary: PpcSoft iKnow is a great tool for some people, and a not-so-great tool for others.

We only want 100% happy customers, so please download and try it first before you buy ! Don't pay $19.95 if you don't think you'll like it - you can still download and use our 100% free Lite edition ! And if you don't like it - try Evernote or MS OneNote instead :-)

PpcSoft - Jan 14 2010 at 9:04am Copy Link

Jon Koerner Another underwhelmed trial user here...

The description sounded interesting, so I installed the trial, and wanted to be wowed. But like previous commenter Jane, I'm now underwhelmed. I assumed that there'd be a super-Beasy way to add information, from wherever you find it. If I find something of interest in a web page, an email, a pdf file, etc., and want to add it to the knowledge base, well, where's the hotkey to send it there? I tried to look in the app's help system. But there is no help system. There's a tiny document, and a 29-slide powerpoint slideshow. That's it??? There is no searchable help, so I could not find an answer to what ought to be a pretty basic question -- how do I add information to iKnow???

Cut & Paste? You've got to be kidding. I mean, I was doing that circa 1982 on a CP/M 4Mhz computer with 2 floppy drives. By 1987, I could create links between things, manually, with some effort. Which appears to be what is required with iKnow. By 1992 or so, we had Ecco (R.I.P.), which was way, way beyond what iKnow can do. For less money. 18 years ago!

Am I completely missing something obvious here? I just don't get it.

Where's the magic?

Jan 16 2010 at 6:11pm Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi Jon Koerner,

the hotkey to show/hide PpcSoft iKnow is F12. Then you simply paste (ctrl+V) the information into the current note, or create a new note (and press F12 to hide iKnow again when finished).

However, there is no hotkey to automatically send it to iKnow. As mentioned in a previous comment, we discourage "dumping" information and encourage users to first activate iKnow and then choose the correct note to paste the information into. At this point you may also want to add a hyperlink to the related website/pdf/document and/or some comments as well. But if many people want this feature we'll consider adding an "auto-paste" hotkey in a future release.

F1 will open the help in your default browser, and the complete help is intentionally within a single (local) web page; you can therefore use the default search in your browser to quickly find the help you need.

There is also a lot of useful help in the statusbar when you hover over controls, and quick help for a list of shortcut keys (CtrlQ).

In addition, when you start PpcSoft iKnow for the first time you'll get an introduction that explains the basics, and the example datafile you start with also includes help that is searchable and editable within PpcSoft iKnow.
Thank you for your feedback on our help - we want to improve our help system to be as easy, efficient and *helpful* as possible ! .

Oh, and the "magic" is in the automatic connections between your notes to make it easier to find related information
- http://www.ppcsoft.com/iknow-connect.asp

PpcSoft - Jan 16 2010 at 6:41pm Copy Link

Frank Stephens Sorry, but I agree with Jane Boyd. This is much like ZuluPad, which is free, although I picked up the Pro version from here. There are some differences in the interface. iKnow has incremental searching, previews, and is more oriented toward an all-in-one database, whereas ZuluPad is more oriented toward specific wikis, but those can be shared since ZuluPad is free, it also supports ZuluSync Online, can embed images, and has other features which iKnow doesn't, including exporting to HTML. ZuluPad has online help and a user-submitted ZuluPad format help file. iKnow's help is local via your browser instead of using Microsoft HTML Help like it should. iKnow's installer doesn't even create its shortcut correctly, so you get an Explorer Window instead of launching iKnow.

Jan 17 2010 at 12:00am Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi Frank Stephens,

no problem - different applications for different people. If you're happy using ZuluPad and don't feel that PpcSoft iKnow adds anything you need, then we recommend you keep on using Zulupad ! Even though they have some similarities, they are quite different applications in everyday use.

We encourage everybody to download and try all software for themselves before they buy anything - we also have a 100% free Lite edition that you can download and use forever (so that you can test it yourself for as long as you want).

PpcSoft - Jan 17 2010 at 12:36am Copy Link

bvssunnydale Hi, this is very interesting software but I desparaely need the ability to easily create and switch between multiple "data files" - which this doesn't seem to provde - unless I'm wrong. I totally understand the design philosophy - I do the same thing with askSam (unstructured database) but I maintain separate data files for work, home,etc. If this program only allows a single datafile then ppcSoft is putting it's "vision" before the user's needs. Sooo.. the question is, can I easily switch between datafiles or is the convoluted method mentioned above the only way? Thanks, wpshore

Jan 17 2010 at 6:26am Copy Link

Atle Iversen Hi Wm Shore,

I've already sent you an e-mail, but to help others who may have the same question I'll post the answer here as well:

Yes, you can create separate files and switch between them using the File button in the upper-left corner (shortcut Alt+F). This is quick and easy (and similar to creating and opening documents in MS Word 2007 etc).

If you only want to switch between 2-3 different files you may copy the iknow.exe file itself and give it a different name (e.g., "iKnowWork.exe", "iKnowHome.exe" etc). Each file will then work as a separate iKnow-application where you can select its own datafile and settings etc. This way you can actually work on both the home and work data at the same time - you simply switch application. This method is not necessary, but is very efficient if you need to switch between two datafiles (e.g., home and work) often.

However, PpcSoft iKnow is optimized to be used primarily with a single datafile and may not be the optimal choice for you if you need to use *many* different files. But yes, it is absolutely designed to handle more than one datafile (where the work/home scenario is the most common).

PpcSoft - Jan 17 2010 at 6:45am Copy Link