PNotes.NET (fork of PNotes)

[ajfudge]

What it is.
I've been using PNotes so much lately and I don't think the developer has any plans to update it further. Going over PNotes' sourceforge account give hints that PNotes 9.3.0 indeed may be the last release as the developer is pushing the release and actively working on PNotes.NET. (The developer also released a dedicated skinner for use with PNotes.NET)

Dependencies
Pnotes.NET requires you to have .NET 4 and Visual C++ 2010. I do remember that some people said (I'm not sure if it's here or over at PortableApps.com) that once a software requires .NET, it is no longer deemed fit to become portable.
But the thing is, if I already have .NET on my PC and I don't intend to carry the program around in my flash drive (I just don't want a program creating folders everywhere), then why not?

Initial run.
Anyway, I lightly tested PNotes.NET 1.0.6 which is what the developer calls as beta 1.
WARNING: If you run the installer, it will download Visual C++ 2010 even if you already have it in your machine.

I made two extraction using Universal Extractor: 1) the downloaded installer, and 2) the msi package from extracted from the installer.
I ran the program via Sandbox. It did not create any folder outside its own. Not sure about whether it created registry entries though. Maybe someone can confirm.

Must I Have It?
In terms of backwards compatibility, Pnotes.NET won't be able to load skins made for the original PNotes. You also cannot do a full restore of the notes you created and backed up in the original PNotes. However, PNotes.NET can import all your old notes and will be able to restore their positions, but this isn't done conveniently because then you'll risk its organized structure if you grouped your notes.
You can also import old settings including sounds, fonts, dictionaries.

There really is no significant difference between the original PNotes and PNotes.NET, except for the developer's fondness to allow sharing of notes via social networking site which is probably irrelevant to this kind of program. This feature and anything that requires PNotes.NET to utilize notes via the Internet (including FTP upload) are now implemented via plugins. The Dropbox plugin looks promising, though.

Then Why Would I Want It Then?
Because PNotes.NET seems to be the obvious direction the developer is taking. While the program is great, we simply cannot influence a developer's decision to change tires. So if you want to adapt early or to counteract cluttered notes grouping head on, then PNotes beta 1 seems to be workable (read: not buggy) enough to do things.

Links
Changelog of the latest version can be found here: http://sourceforge.net/p/pnotes/discuss ... f10d/#3f81

[Midas]

I'm not a PNotes user (BTW, TPFC entry is http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1320), so take my comment with a grain of salt.

Anyway, I stopped worrying about the developers stampede towards DotNET after it got embedded by default in recent versions of Windows, and am 100% willing to accept the compromise. But, bearing in mind that the default framework in Windows 7 is version 3.0, if I'm not mistaken, and that most these applications are of a rather simple nature, I fail to grasp the advantages of forcing users to install yet another framework version just to run them, meaning DotNET v3.5/v4.0/v4.5 -- especially in the case of allegedly 'portable' apps.

As I take it, the only rationale might lie with the devs improved workflow...

(If this was a council meeting, I'd now move for the assembly to deny portable status to non default DotNET dependencies... )

[webfork]

I put something together to respond to this awhile back but was waiting on something to post. Anyway, it's poorly timed, but here's most of what I was going to say:

Pnotes.NET requires you to have .NET 4 and Visual C++ 2010. I do remember that some people said (I'm not sure if it's here or over at PortableApps.com) that once a software requires .NET, it is no longer deemed fit to become portable.

First, I think it's safe to say any program that requires dotNET is *less* portable than a program that doesn't, meaning it the software will function on fewer computers. There's no longer a policy against it for our site, but programs that don't require dotNET seem to get added more frequently and faster.

Second, although their status may have changed, but PA didn't used to allow dotNET.

But the thing is, if I already have .NET on my PC and I don't intend to carry the program around in my flash drive (I just don't want a program creating folders everywhere), then why not?

Although I also primarily use portable software on my own system rather than a flash drive, the idea of portable software is providing the flexibility to take it with you.

[ajfudge]

Just a note:
I wasn't advertising PNotes.NET; I posted it here as a suggestion, or news update if you consider it, as the author probably won't be releasing updates for the old one and he seems to be saying that the .NET version is the likely future of his program.
Anyway, I went back to using the old (dotNET-less) PNotes because it's just darn stable and against all odds it works.
I still don't see the point why PNotes.NET was created in the first place. It simply added a lot of unnecessary things (like the giant splash screen and posting to facebook, among other things).

[SYSTEM]

Second, although their status may have changed, but PA didn't used to allow dotNET.

They do have plans to allow .NET but haven't done so yet. See http://portableapps.com/development/outdated:

*.NET Apps: PortableApps.com does not yet list .NET apps in our directory. .NET-based apps will not work on most public PCs (net cafe, hotel business center, library, etc) as these PCs generally run Windows XP and do not have .NET installed. Unlike Java, .NET can not be legally portablized. So, .NET apps won't work unless the PC has the proper .NET library, which you can't determine until you try to run the app. To avoid confusing most end-users, .NET apps will be listed in a special section of the PA.c Directory with an explanation of this issue shortly.

(emphasis added)

[webfork]

PNotes.NET 3.6.0.5 is out with a fair number of changes:
http://www.softpedia.com/progChangelog/ ... 38310.html