PinderSoft Whiteboard (http://pindersoft.com/whiteboardps.htm) is an interesting note keeping app, set up with a whiteboard metaphor (meaning a blank screen). Its uniqueness comes from its ten tabs, which can all be renamed, plus an 11th tab for storing links. Beyond that, there’s not much to say. It’s a notes app. It does notes stuff. There are some basic editing capabilities, basically what you’d expect from a notes app. And it can easily be kept in the system tray.

Wishlist:

• Keeping the app in the system tray is nice, but how could they not give it a hotkey so you can bring it up without having to remember which tiny icon to click in the tray? I’ve solved that, I think, by assigning a gMote mouse gesture (http://www.handform.net/gmote.php). If I could remember that I did that, it would make pulling stuff up pretty easy. If I had a hotkey, I’d use this a lot, I think. It would be as easy or easier than turning around and writing on the real whiteboard.

• Being able to strike-through or check off completed items seems like another obvious feature, but it apparently wasn’t very obvious to the developer. Maybe he thought being able to strike through text using the font option was enough, but I want something easier, maybe with a keystroke. At least there’s a workaround, though.

• Not really any export to speak of. Each tab is saved as an RTF file, so I guess you can pretty much do what you want with your text. That reminds me of a weird usability thing. When you click to open a file in your default editor, you just get an Explorer window with the directory where the files are stored. You still have to open the file. An extra step, not really a big deal, but kind of weird.

• And, if each tab is just stored as an RTF file, why can’t you create more tabs? That seems logical.

• Tougher to implement with the RTF editing environment, but being able to draw would make this a real whiteboard app instead of just a note taking app. Even if you could just import a graphic file, it would be better.

In a Dream World

If I ran the world and all my wishes came true, we’d have this app, with a hotkey to bring it up, and the ability to draw, and even some basic mind-mapping features. Plus, I could write down my notes telepathically and they would be put down the way I mean them, not the way I actually say or think them, in perfect clarity and Pulitzer-worthy prose. It would also have basic to-do list features, like check boxes. And it would be a gourmet seafood chef with great legs and unlimited financial resources.

But even with its limitations, it seems pretty useful, especially if you have several (but not more than ten) projects to track. I think it’s worth checking out.