The main interface makes use of tabs to categorize notes into different subjects. The window is fully scalable to display as many information as needed on the screen at once. Several skins are available to change the design of the desktop notes taking application. There is also an option to change the opacity of the window.

What makes the application stand out are its features though. Some of the more interesting ones are the ability to define hotspots that will display the desktop notes taking applications if the mouse is hovered there for a time, url highlighting, the automatic ability to capture clipboard items and paste them into a pre-configured tab in the application or reminders that can inform the user about a specific event in regular intervals using various means including sounds or popups.

The desktop notes taking application can be downloaded from the official homepage of the software developer. It is compatible with most versions of the Windows operating system including Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. No information about Windows Vista on the developers homepage.

Multiple notes can be created and placed on the desktop. Each note can have a different layout which includes window size, colors, transparency level and state. State refers to the state of the window which can be hidden, minimized or locked among other things. The first difference to most note taking applications is the rich text editor that can be used.

It supports most functions known from programs like Word that support different fonts, font sizes, colors and several other formats. A very nice feature is the ability to add pictures to the notes, have not seen that in other note taking applications yet. Let me know if others support that as well.

Drag and Drop is supported which means that it is not a problem to drag huge chunks of text into a Pinnotes windows. Copy and Paste works as well which I use exclusively. Think it’s faster than dragging and dropping text.

The little notes can be set to always be on top which is the most useful feature in my opinion. I like to be able to quickly add notes and this options guarantees that.

Another feature sounds interesting but I was not able to make it work. A time can be set after which the note appears in the foreground again. It can be set between 1 minute and 23 hours 59 minutes.

Click 2 Log It created by TINJAW was a contribution to the Donation Coder Nany Challenge. The application is available in the system tray if it is running. A left-click writes a new note while a right-click opens a context menu with the option to change the text that will be logged from now on.

It’s a little bit complicated – I think – that a left-click is not opening a form where you can enter a log text by yourself but you get used to that. Maybe the author reads this article and will update his version with this option, it would be great.

Another thing that bothers me is the sound that is played whenever a new log entry is created. It would be great if it would be possible to turn off the sound completely. Still, the application is nice and fast and makes my life easier. With the proposed changes it would simply rock.

Knot is a small application that displays notes on the desktop. Those notes can stay on top if you want and you can start Knot with Windows so that your notes appear instantly after system start. It does have some fancy options like different colors and shadows for the notes as well as multi-monitor and network support.

Users can create new notes by pressing F4 when a note is active which is my biggest problem with that application. I prefer a system wide shortcut that would create a new note instantly. The method Knot is offering is still better than the previous one using text documents.

Does anyone know a desktop notes application that is lightweight and offers system wide shortcuts ? I would like to use an application that would create a new note whenever I press a keyboard shortcut and that would allow me to write down notes afterwards instantly.