Anyone who knows the way I work knows that I swear, live and die by Evernote. A molue could run over my netbook and I wouldn’t so much as blink. So long as my notes, which are pretty much my life, are in sync — I’ll be just fine.

Now to the reason for the fansub. I just learnt of, and promptly downloaded the new Evernote 5 for Windows. I’m really glad I did, because Evernote 5 is not just another update. It represents a radical advance in the product in both the experience and functionality. Right now I’m wondering how I ever managed to tolerate the earlier, and in retrospect, clunkier version I was using just a couple hours ago.

So what’s new in Evernote 5 for desktop?

Well, flat design first of all, which of course is the current black. But the simplification is much more than a visual one. It’s kinda hard to describe, but there’s a marked reduction in the cognitive load required to use the new one that you can only notice if you’re coming from the old version.

flat design evernote

Then they’ve put in reminders that you can set for notes, so you’re always on top of the stuff that’s important. Huge for me, because I’ve always got a ton of notes at different stages of completion, and I never know which one I need to action first without looking through each one individually.

evernote reminders

The ability to dig through tons of memories has always been one of Evernote’s killer propositions, and they just took it into overdrive. Search in Evernote is so insanely improved, I could just kiss them for it. “TypeAhead” dynamically suggests note matches as you type, Google instant style. It’s miraculous if you’re like me whose got oodles of obscure notes.

typeahead

Premium users get features like related notes and more in your face reminders that show up on your desktop and even in your email, if you so desire.

There’s a bunch of other good stuff that Evernote have done with Evernote 5 for Windows, like advanced note filtering tools, shortcuts, highlighting, an Atlas for places, and more, but I’ve stuck with just the most important ones…to me at least. There’s more info on the website and in the product video on YoutTube.

Evernote is a really great product. It’s in my three must first install apps on every device I own. I only wish BlackBerry would have bribed them to create a proper app for BB10.

Bankole Oluwafemi Author

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