Keep the Legacy Alive: A Call to Preserve Evernote Legacy

[AlexLex 28]

Dear Community Members,

Today, I want to highlight a tool that has become an integral part of our digital lives – Evernote Legacy. It’s more than just an app; it’s the cornerstone of our online document management. Here’s why we should continue to embrace it:

• Clarity and Ease: Evernote Legacy boasts an interface that’s the epitome of user-friendliness. It’s intuitive, straightforward, and lets you find what you need without any fuss. The design is admittedly a little dated, but for professional work or for continuing to be able to work according to the routines we've developed over the years, this interface is perfect! The new version has removed the horizontal shortcut bar, and that alone makes it harder to see important notebooks.

• Speed that Delivers: Evernote Legacy is quick, responsive, and doesn’t keep you waiting.

• Instant PDF Access: When it comes to opening PDF documents, Evernote Legacy is like lightning. You click, and it’s there – no delays, no loading screens.

• Seamless Offline Sync: With Evernote Legacy, your notes sync locally in a snap, allowing you to work offline effortlessly. In contrast, the new version makes offline work feel like navigating a maze – it’s complicated.

But it’s not just about using Evernote Legacy; it’s about ensuring its longevity. To the developers who have crafted this indispensable tool: we urge you to continue your support. Evernote Legacy is irreplaceable for many of us, especially those who rely on it as a scanned document library and for work.

The newer version, while innovative, introduces features that some of us find superfluous. Moreover, it lacks the speed we’ve come to depend on. We’re not looking for some trendy AI tool – we just need the robust, efficient Evernote Legacy that gets the job done.

Our request to developers:

• Continue support for Evernote Legacy
• Remove the annoying update pop-up

So, let’s unite in this call to action: keep supporting Evernote Legacy. It’s not just software; it’s a part of our daily routine that we can’t afford to lose.

[agsteele 2,964]

1 minute ago, AlexLex said:

To the developers who have crafted this indispensable tool: we urge you to continue your support. Evernote Legacy is irreplaceable for many of us, especially those who rely on it as a scanned document library and for work.

Sadly, for your campaign, the developers that built the four separate pieces of software that were the Legacy applications have left. There is nobody around who knows the old software and I doubt anyone is going to learn about it.

Legacy is still with us for those that want it. I'm surprised it is still working. I fully expect that it will be blocked from access sooner rather than later. I'd expected that to be in 2023. But I seem to be wrong.

The problem for all the old apps is that they use the now old sync processes. I can't see the Evernote folk supporting that forward much longer. But I may be wrong about that too.

But the apps have gone. They won't return. So, if you have, use it and need it then keep hold of the installer just in case.

[AlexLex 28]

If the developers have left and there's no longer any financial reason to maintain the old version, I'd ask the developers to make it open source. That's the best thing to do.

[agsteele 2,964]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

The developers can't make it open source. They left and the software is now stuck in a vault, unloved and going nowhere.

 

[AlexLex 28]

OK, so let's raise funds to make a spin-off and operate Evernote Legacy through the community.

There's always a solution!

[agsteele 2,964]

3 minutes ago, AlexLex said:

OK, so let's raise funds to make a spin-off and operate Evernote Legacy through the community.

There's always a solution!

Go ahead. But you can't do that here. That would be building a competing product and, I think, contrary to the forums Code of Conduct.

In any case there are plenty of alternative note taking apps. Chances are what you might develop had already been done.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

There is no single legacy code. There is a hodgepodge of code fractions, incompatible. What held them together was the backend software running on the server. And THIS I am sure will never be open sourced (even when by now it is being replaced as well, to software supporting RTE).

We have forgotten a bit over the changes in the free plan - but legacy is already dead, since the introduction of RTE it is in intensive care, with no perspective left at all. I expect the server connection to be cut any time, and this will effectively stop it’s use. So better be prepared.

[AlexLex 28]

Dear members of the community, I'm not giving up hope. If you're one of those people who's still using Evernote Legacy, or if you've upgraded to the new version of Evernote and regret it, let me know on this forum.

The idea is to gather as many ideas as possible to find a solution and draw Bending Spoons' attention to the fact that there is a (large) active community who need the old version.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

BS just needs to check their login scripts to know exactly how many users are still in legacy, and how is their use of EN.

They hardly need users to tell them.

When BS has talked about the former EN apps, they typically do so by using the words „technical debt“. This starts with all versions below v10.60 (!). I doubt they even have legacy still on their screen.

But of course, run your little private initiative here. It will do nothing to stop the inevitable - which is created by the burden to run 2 server versions of the same data, permanently converting between them. This is what makes legacy a problem grizzly, to be killed on the next possible occasion.

[AlexLex 28]

Thank you for these clarifications and support.

[kthesun 101]

11 hours ago, AlexLex said:

OK, so let's raise funds to make a spin-off and operate Evernote Legacy through the community.

There's always a solution!

How old are you? Your entire text is written like a 4th grader essay.

Move on to Notion like everyone else does and get over it. Evernote is gone. They weren't able to achieve the high expectations venture capital firms had on them so they got sold to someone who knows how to press as much money as possible out of the lazy and locked it customer base (like me for example). 
 

 

[Boot17 1,483]

Wow. Harsh. And move on to Notion like everyone else? Notion makes me nauseous.

[AlexLex 28]

Notion is a good tool for organising ideas, processes and to work in teams.

However, I don't find Notion a suitable tool for storing large quantities of scanned documents.

In fact, I can't find any tool as efficient, fast and effective as Evernote Legacy for storing large quantities of scanned documents such as PDFs.

For these reasons, I think we should do everything we can to keep Evernote Legacy.

[agsteele 2,964]

2 minutes ago, AlexLex said:

For these reasons, I think we should do everything we can to keep Evernote Legacy.

Which sadly, for your campaign, is nothing. Unless you propose to recreate the Evernote storage and sync independently too. The moment the Legacy sync is turned off the old apps will stop working.

[kthesun 101]

39 minutes ago, AlexLex said:

Notion is a good tool for organising ideas, processes and to work in teams.

However, I don't find Notion a suitable tool for storing large quantities of scanned documents.

In fact, I can't find any tool as efficient, fast and effective as Evernote Legacy for storing large quantities of scanned documents such as PDFs.

For these reasons, I think we should do everything we can to keep Evernote Legacy.

As you can see I am also still here. Because I am using Evernote since 2011 and I've put tenthousands of hours in my notes. Moving somewhere else always means to lose some of your work. That's the reason why I don't do it and I guess the new owner of Evernote had the same insight.  

The problem is that we right now don't know what the intention of the new owner is (what they communicate officially is usually just PR bla bla, their real intentions are written in the patch notes). 

I hope they really want to develop Evernote further and make it to a software that is even better than Evernote Legacy that you are missing. We will find it out.

Regarding Evernote Legacy: I have it installed on an old laptop and it stopped syncing on the day they introduced the new sync. It won't come back. It just makes no sense for them and I understand it. It's nearly impossible to maintain such an outdated code base and it's extremely expensive.
 

 

 

[PinkElephant 8,244]

Legacy should still be syncing, currently. There is a converter running, which creates a noticeable lag when a note created under legacy is opened in v10 for the first time. It works both directions.

I can’t check, I erased the last legacy client last year. Maybe try a logout / login to initialize the connection.

 

[AlexLex 28]

5 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

Legacy should still be syncing, currently. There is a converter running, which creates a noticeable lag when a note created under legacy is opened in v10 for the first time. It works both directions.

I can’t check, I erased the last legacy client last year. Maybe try a logout / login to initialize the connection.

 

I still use both. Evernote Legacy at office and Evernote X at home. Syncs both ways.

[AlexLex 28]

This is what I hate most about new Evernote (see attached GIF).

If GIF not displaying correctly, see here: 

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,981]

5 minutes ago, AlexLex said:

This is what I hate most about new Evernote (see attached GIF).

What kind of device is that? In any case, opening a PDF simply never does that for me, on Android, Web, or Windows. It's not a generalized issue with Evernote 10, though I'm not denying it happens to you.

[AlexLex 28]

5 minutes ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

What kind of device is that? In any case, opening a PDF simply never does that for me, on Android, Web, or Windows. It's not a generalized issue with Evernote 10, though I'm not denying it happens to you.

It's a PC, AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 4.1 Ghz, 32 GB of Ram running on Windows 11 Pro with a fast internet connection.

[Brian Handscomb 28]

The "Legacy" apps are high performance native apps with access to local resources e.g. you can have local notebooks if you want or you have notebooks synced with the Evernote online system. Third party apps can use published APIs to sync, so I used that to use Evernote on Linux.

The Electron apps in comparision feels like you are only "borrowing" your data, and no option for local only notebooks, naming just one missing feature.

I can't at this point imagine the @agsteele doom and gloom legacy sync turning off scenario, as I mentioned there are publicly documented APIs. What will happen is OS changes will gradually impair the applications to run. I loved Evernote 5 on Mac and I clung to that as long as I was able. Version 6 was a mess IMHO so I pretty much jumped from 5 to 7 (pre legacy) when OS changes meant Evernote 5 would no longer launch without crashing. The green elephant 7.14 just about still works on Sonoma (just launched to try) but enhibits the same windowing quirks of running on Ventura.

I don't agree with the way Evernote is targetting/nagging users to go from "legacy" and pre-legacy clients to version 10.x and reportedly removing the old application. What if a user has local notebooks? The upgrade nag does not mention the lack of this feature and users could/will lose access. This is IMHO a MAJOR error and omission from Evernote especially with the removal of the download links to the grey elephant legacy apps.

I would guess these days not only are the developers of the native apps no longer with Evernote I suspect most of the original developers of the Electron apps have gone too so I think sadly would be even harder to pull the code out of mothballs to make updates. I just really wish Evernote had gone for using Qt to developi the apps a few years back which should have allowed them to create common code for the various app as well as some platform specific code if they wanted to provide native OS functionality.

Today I have cancelled my subscription (been subscribed since mid 2011) having barely now used Evernote in past six months, instead using apps with local storage/database support as I have previously used my green elephant to export and migrate all my data.

I hope Legacy continues to work for everyone that uses and relies on it, to the limits of OS compatibility.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

Windows legacy is still 32bit code.

Sure it runs fast on a modern CPU - it was designed when computers had maybe 1/10th of memory and 1/20th of performance.

And this is why it sucks: That sort of aged code can’t be maintained or enriched by new features any more.

If „high performance“ would be the main criteria, we would all be running assembler code from the command line. THAT‘S fast !

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,981]

4 hours ago, Brian Handscomb said:

The "Legacy" apps are high performance native apps with access to local resources e.g. you can have local notebooks if you want or you have notebooks synced with the Evernote online system. Third party apps can use published APIs to sync, so I used that to use Evernote on Linux.

The Electron apps in comparision feels like you are only "borrowing" your data, and no option for local only notebooks, naming just one missing feature....

I don't agree with the way Evernote is targetting/nagging users to go from "legacy" and pre-legacy clients to version 10.x and reportedly removing the old application. What if a user has local notebooks? The upgrade nag does not mention the lack of this feature and users could/will lose access. This is IMHO a MAJOR error and omission from Evernote especially with the removal of the download links to the grey elephant legacy apps....

Today I have cancelled my subscription (been subscribed since mid 2011) having barely now used Evernote in past six months, instead using apps with local storage/database support as I have previously used my green elephant to export and migrate all my data.

I hope Legacy continues to work for everyone that uses and relies on it, to the limits of OS compatibility.

There were a few specific features of Legacy that people had built workflows and practices around that did not get carried over into v. 10. Local notebooks is one of them; ability to edit note creation dates is another (search the forums for discussions). I can see how having Evernote as a bridge between material a person kept on just one computer and material they wanted to access on other devices was very useful in some cases (I never used it myself), for instance allowing a search across both kinds of material when one was using the device with the local notebooks. My suspicion (no more than that) is that the number of users doing this was relatively limited, which would be a reason for Evernote not to continue the function. Of course, Evernote would have no way of knowing that apart from customer surveys, which I don't remember happening. But the fact that AFAIK none of Evernote's competitors is rushing to implement local notebooks (at least I haven't seen anyone mention it in the forums) does suggest that the demand was not large.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,981]

4 hours ago, Brian Handscomb said:

The "Legacy" apps are high performance native apps with access to local resources e.g. you can have local notebooks if you want or you have notebooks synced with the Evernote online system. Third party apps can use published APIs to sync, so I used that to use Evernote on Linux.

The Electron apps in comparision feels like you are only "borrowing" your data, and no option for local only notebooks, naming just one missing feature.

As I think about it, there is a limited workaround to local notebooks. In the desktop apps (not Web or mobile) it is possible to insert a link in a note to a local file: a link (using Ctrl+K) with file:/// followed by a properly formatted, fully qualified file path, e.g., file:///C:\Users\myusername\Documents\Texts\Light.doc, will open the local file in its assigned app. It's also possible (in Windows; don't know about Mac) to create a shortcut to a file and drag that into Evernote. (See this post from August 2022 by @Mike P.) The text of the local path or the shortcut would get synced, and obviously wouldn't work elsewhere or convey much information. One obvious shortcoming is that of course this does not include the content of the local file in Evernote's local search index, as was the case I believe with local notebooks.

[s2sailor 2,281]

One of the advantages of local notebooks was the security aspect.  If I wanted to keep information secure, I would keep it in a local notebook.  I was responsible for the security, but I was ok with that.  I would, as an example, keep all work-related information in local notebooks as well as personal financial information.  The fact that it was still searchable by Evernote made it a brilliant solution IMO.  I miss having them.  That was my biggest V10 loss.  I don't see other competitors offering local notebooks but some do provide encrypted notebooks, which would be my preferred solution for a cloud-only app.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

Actually who is interested in ones financial information ? I think this aspect is rather overblown, it’s not different from other personal information.

Work related data is in its own stack. I think with proper account security including 2FA it’s „safe enough“.

[s2sailor 2,281]

We each have our own opinion on these topics.  I prefer keeping certain information off the cloud and local notebooks was a great solution for that.  It was one of the unique features of Evernote that made it special to me.

[Joost Rongen 4]

Normally I'd like to keep up with the latest versions.  Since a while I run EN v10.x and got used to it. But I do still have the need to keep the legacy version  on a virtual machine.  Why?  Simply because there are still functions which I had and are now stolen from me.  For example the export to HTML is still not what it used to be in EN v. 6.x  (legacy).  

Right at the start of v10 it was so buggy that is was nearly unusable. So me, and for sure lot's of loyal users where not amused with the way this move was organized. 

btw the legacy still works, as it was when they pulled the plug. 

[PinkElephant 8,244]

What exactly on the HTML export from v10 is bugging you ?

[idoc 400]

I"ve posted my little bugaboo a dozen times so I won't bore anyone with it again; but I used to be able to export thousands of pdfs from Legacy into a directory on my C drive and then manipulate them to my heart's content with Adobe Acrobat.  It was a major part of my work flow.  That is most definitely not possible on v10. The other thing I experienced (and it was somewhat frightening) is the corruption of a crucial note in which I kept 10 years of data stored on a pdf.  That never happened to me before on Legacy but I found a work-around.  Recently I experienced duplication of files which recurred over and over again and this is an ongoing mess.  There have been other annoyances that I won't get into.  I view v10 as a kind of buggy Lamborgini that looks beautiful and has a ton of bells and whistles, whereas Legacy was like a simple but reliable Toyota Civic.  I'm not giving up EN so I've reconciled myself to making v10 work for me and to stop moaning about Legacy.  Frankly, even though I loved Legacy I've deleted it from my computers and forced myself 100% into v10.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

You can export all attachments from a notebook in one go - using HTML export. From more than 1 notebook it’s a repetitive action. I doubt it’s needed frequently. At least for me it’s usually a single PDF I want to edit, not a ton of them.

About the rest I can’t tell, lacking the experience.

[AlexLex 28]

This post is more important now than ever.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

... for another 26 days. And then it's from hero to zero.

The game is over, you just see some cheerleaders showing the crowds out.

[gazumped 11,741]

6 minutes ago, ben353253 said:

I hope Evernote see this backlash and reconsider

Not so much a backlash as a microlash since (by my count here) there are a massive 8 supporters..  and this being a public forum anyone is allowed to express their opinion unless it is incorrect or offensive.  Legacy is not coming back - please accept that and move on with your life.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

There are others here who think BS is absolutely right: The continued function of the legacy ecosystem is damaging for the app development, for the community and for the security of the server and by that all users data. This has been explained in the blogpost about why legacy is now withdrawn.

We do not need to discuss with you guys. We could simply let you embarrass yourselves here, doing as if you could stop anything from happening.

The moment the announcement of the final date was out, the stone has been pushed over the edge.

What now follows are 26 more days of free falling. That is the period of elated, stupid discussions, mostly about that everything is so nice at the moment, and it must continue like that, and so on. While falling, you don't feel your earthly weight any more, so chitchatting is easier than ever.

What inevitably follows is contact with the hard facts. Full stop, game over.

This is the only reason why we think the discussion may hold some sense after all: Everybody who is still sitting in his cozy legacy hut and doesn't believe he needs to move has already shown a lot of inertia. Get up on your feet NOW, move your ass, because when the plug is pulled on legacy, there will be some things that will not be available any more. Things that can make a transition easier.

But of course, you are grown up, taking your own decisions, so just go ahead. Just don't come back and blame others when (not "if") your strategy has failed.

[ferol 487]

1 hour ago, ben353253 said:

 

And the likes of yourself are revelling in it. God knows why. It's just beyond bizarre. 

I hope Evernote see this backlash and reconsider, as do many others. None of whom do you any harm whatsoever so I'd kindly suggest you stop interfering in topics that don't concern you. It's tiresome. 

Nobody is enjoying anything here. Finally, accept the fact that this Legacy simply will not survive. After all, we're just trying to advise you that there's really no point in your efforts, even though I, too, feel sorry for Legacy. 

But this is really a waste of time... trying to save it...

Nobody takes care of it, software development is a very expensive thing, and there is a quantum of competitiors...

 

[avevers 75]

What will happen though? For legacy users, there'll be no more syncing (as there hasn't been for weeks now) granted.

However, will the legacy app simply stop working? Will the editor lock up, or some other blocking of functionality? Or are users "on their own" from that date, still in possession of their (permanently offline) notes?

It's that that's not clear to me. If anyone knows please chime in.

[s2sailor 2,281]

At a minimum, it will stop syncing.  Many got an early preview of that yesterday.  In theory, if you don’t log out, it may work for a while, but at some point it may log out and then you are stuck.  What I don’t know is they could push a logout right before throwing the switch.  If you want to play around, go ahead, but please export all of your notes first and at least get v10 loaded and working so you don’t get stuck.

[avevers 75]

A forced logout would be understandable if not controversial!

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,981]

3 hours ago, AlexLex said:

This post is more important now than ever.

Except:

On 12/11/2023 at 6:37 AM, agsteele said:

Sadly, for your campaign, the developers that built the four separate pieces of software that were the Legacy applications have left. There is nobody around who knows the old software and I doubt anyone is going to learn about it.

Legacy is still with us for those that want it. I'm surprised it is still working. I fully expect that it will be blocked from access sooner rather than later. I'd expected that to be in 2023. But I seem to be wrong.

The problem for all the old apps is that they use the now old sync processes. I can't see the Evernote folk supporting that forward much longer. But I may be wrong about that too.

But the apps have gone. They won't return. So, if you have, use it and need it then keep hold of the installer just in case.

@AlexLex, I genuinely admire your enthusiasm and spirit. This isn't going to happen, for all the reasons set out here and there in this thread. I hope you'll find some tool to work well for you after Evernote Legacy ceases in a few weeks (Evernote 10, for instance). And I also hope you'll find a good cause where that never-say-die enthusiasm can succeed.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,981]

1 hour ago, avevers said:

What will happen though? For legacy users, there'll be no more syncing (as there hasn't been for weeks now) granted.

However, will the legacy app simply stop working? Will the editor lock up, or some other blocking of functionality? Or are users "on their own" from that date, still in possession of their (permanently offline) notes?

It's that that's not clear to me. If anyone knows please chime in.

In other threads, there have been suggestions for creating a kind of offline silo in which the Legacy app and its existing database could hopefully continue to function, unless it inadvertently got logged out, in which case it could not log back in. I'll let you hunt those down. Honestly, that begins to sound to me more like a cult than a productive undertaking. I've been in other forums where software changes were lamented or resisted. But I've never seen anything like some of the more over-the-edge comments about Evernote Legacy. I feel some sympathy, but reality is revving up its engines.

[avevers 75]

Oh I'm long past caring about preserving legacy TBH. I've all my enex files exported and ready to move on. Just curious as to what will happen. I expect it to go "poof", but in what format I'm not sure. Not long to go now.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

It will stop syncing. That‘s what we know.

Everything else it up to the user. Who wants to try to run the client offline should take precautions to seal it off the web, and never log out. A log in was required since ever to access data offline, for security reasons.

The for sure better way is to decide to switch to v10 (no data export needed, just download and log in) or an alternative (this is where this forum stops).

[AlbertR 563]

1 hour ago, PinkElephant said:

It will stop syncing. That‘s what we know.

Fine. It withdraws a statement in offical Blog that says "... will stop working" - which means (in my eyes) also "... stop searching local data" or simply "... stop starting"

1 hour ago, PinkElephant said:

... never log out. A log in was required since ever to access data offline, for security reasons.

Yep - but simply exiting does not need a re-login later. Translation of username to numerical userID to locate local data is stored anywhere (in Registry?).

If Evernote.exe has an internal time-bomb that fires on 23.03.24 - Puh - this date was a long term decision. Build 6.25.3.9348 (309348) has been built in December 2021 and signed on 14.12.21...

1 hour ago, PinkElephant said:

The for sure better way is to decide to switch to v10

Finally agree 😐

[PinkElephant 8,244]

As far as we know there is no hidden kill switch. EN doesn’t care about what a user may do locally on his computer, with his own data.

This is all about shielding the server from access through the outdated API, and take the huge chunk of code offline that currently drives the legacy database operation.

This will streamline server operations. In the long run all users will benefit from Devs free of dull code maintenance tasks, able to focus on features and bugs in the current version.

If a dude is still fiddling with his legacy notes doesn’t play a role at all.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

Oh yes - 3 answers on Reddit up to now.

Stellar success …

This is becoming a freak show. Enjoy 🍿

[jbhq 0]

For those preferring to stick with Legacy (foregoing syncing, etc) and given there is no option available, a problem could be moving to a different device (loss of login status).  
Is there a file/setting indicating this status that might circumvent this? 
Is the .lock file significant?

[PinkElephant 8,244]

@ben353253 Feel free. 

You are IMHO abusing this forum for pure selfish purposes. There is no need to hazzle other people just because you feel you could hazzle them. That’s one part of the story.

The other part is that you try to bully others around here, without contributing to the better of forum users at all.

It‘s just noise without improvement what you create. You see yourself that you are not drawing a crowd, just the opposite.

But, as I already said, nothing is useless 🍿

 

[Tom Sed 3]

Its very sad, that obsolete legacy versions sems fits to customers needs better than latest versions... What are you do doing wrong?
Where is something like status bar? Or Synd button. I experience lot of sync problems...

 

[PinkElephant 8,244]

@Tom Sed If you mean undo, by ctrl/cmd Z, menu command or undo icon.

You find the status at the bottom right area of the window, in light grey text, usually telling everything has been saved.

Sync is instantaneous, it syncs every little change right away. It is so fast that you could not move a mouse over a button to place a click in that split second.

If you have syncing problems, it is today most often by using any legacy client in parallel. This forces conversions on the server, what leads to syncing and other issues.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

@ben353253 Getting better: Add some conspiracy, always good for clicks.

What do you want to contribute here ?

[gazumped 11,741]

1 minute ago, ben353253 said:

You're not interested in preserving Legacy. So get off this thread

No-one is interested in preserving Legacy.  Evernote are simply removing some outdated software so that the majority of its customers can enjoy faster operations and greater security.  You have no authority to ban anyone.  I on the other hand,  am being strongly tempted...

[AlbertR 563]

4 minutes ago, gazumped said:

No-one is interested in preserving Legacy.

Sorry - that's a vague generalisation. I for example would like to live with grand-parents and children. Am I No-one? 😉

EOT @all-here?

[gazumped 11,741]

1 minute ago, AlbertR said:

Am I No-one?

No comment.  Also you are not helping! 

[Razmataz 220]

1 hour ago, PinkElephant said:

@ben353253 Feel free. 

You are IMHO abusing this forum for pure selfish purposes.

…

The other part is that you try to bully others around here…

 

🤣 Hahaha! That was amusing! I only noticed later that this note was not written about @PinkElephant but by him! 🤣

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,981]

Here, for anyone who's interested, is my final thought on Legacy and these discussions about it, quoted from a man who has a deeper wisdom than we might think: https://chucklorre.com/?e=870. 

[Zafirik 35]

On 12/11/2023 at 7:29 AM, AlexLex said:

Our request to developers:

• Continue support for Evernote Legacy
• Remove the annoying update pop-up

So, let’s unite in this call to action: keep supporting Evernote Legacy. It’s not just software; it’s a part of our daily routine that we can’t afford to lose.

100% agree 👍

[idoc 400]

I  really love the notion that we are part of a cabal of Legacy haters who are being paid by EN to promote v10!  If you look through our posts you will find that many of us loved Legacy and were dismayed at early iterations of v10.  Some of us (myself included) refused to use v10 for months because it was unacceptable. However, v10 improved by leaps and bounds and it was evident that EN was making a sincere effort to produce a product that would satisfy on all platforms and work in a standardized format.  It was also clear that v10 had to give some lip service to both attracting new users and not alienating its avid fans.  It also had to accomplish this with limited resources hence no multiple products on multiple platforms.  The end result  is v10 which has exponentially improved since it's dismal debut and is now a very stable, workable and useful tool.  There are still some things missing and I suspect that some of them may never come back due to systemic technological hurdles.  On the other hand, I look forward to constant improvements n the future.  For those who feel that v10 is unacceptable compared to Legacy there is still the hurdle of trying to decide if something out there is better.  If not, then the better part of valor is to work with what you've got and figure out ways to adapt to it.  Some things may take more time and some of us may even need to change our workflow to adapt.  Many of us felt the same fury when beloved windows 7, Acrobat X, Quickbooks 11, Quicken 7 evolved into products that we felt were worse than the originals.  Nonetheless, there will not be a Classic Coke moment happening here no matter how much we wish it were so.  

[gazumped 11,741]

Actually I fully support this movement.  I think anyone who thinks v10 is a slow,  lumbering monster missing many vital features should conduct a sit in!  You stick with your Legacy accounts and your fast access! 

Let's see if Evernote is prepared to become the public pariah who cuts off dozens of loyal users,  despite the fact they're unwilling to use modern software!  Mind you - some of those 'loyal users' are coming up on free accounts,  or the rather subsidised (and also now cancelled) 'Plus' account,  so maybe they won't be so missed...

Anyway.  You show 'em!  Solidarity!  (Good luck for getting to the end of March!)

[Jon/t 1,359]

17 minutes ago, idoc said:

windows 7, Acrobat X, Quickbooks 11, Quicken 7

NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR!

Putting things into a little perspective I've counted less than 20 individuals wanting legacy to stay put, Evernote has millions of users.

My own community has thousands of folk in it and I've had one email about legacy ending and they were not really bothered. Most folk just get up in the morning and get on with their lives on V10.

I feel for the legacy folk but like you said.... Quicken 7.... Netscape Navigator!

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,981]

3 minutes ago, Jon/t said:

25 minutes ago, idoc said:

windows 7, Acrobat X, Quickbooks 11, Quicken 7

NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR!

Putting things into a little perspective I've counted less than 20 individuals wanting legacy to stay put, Evernote has millions of users.

My own community has thousands of folk in it and I've had one email about legacy ending and they were not really bothered. Most folk just get up in the morning and get on with their lives on V10.

I feel for the legacy folk but like you said.... Quicken 7.... Netscape Navigator!

Netscape Navigator on Windows 95! I really miss that. Not joking or being snarky. But also not looking for a computer that will still run them.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,981]

8 minutes ago, gazumped said:

Actually I fully support this movement.  I think anyone who thinks v10 is a slow,  lumbering monster missing many vital features should conduct a sit in!  You stick with your Legacy accounts and your fast access! 

Let's see if Evernote is prepared to become the public pariah who cuts off dozens of loyal users,  despite the fact they're unwilling to use modern software!  Mind you - some of those 'loyal users' are coming up on free accounts,  or the rather subsidised (and also now cancelled) 'Plus' account,  so maybe they won't be so missed...

Anyway.  You show 'em!  Solidarity!  (Good luck for getting to the end of March!)

Wow, somebody finally pushed @gazumped's last button. Take a Marmite break, big fella.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

I am watching over the fence from time to time. The corresponding Reddit post after 20 hours has "already" 6 comments (not all of them positive) and 4 upvotes.

This tells more about the state of the request than the "interesting" arguments posted here.

[VincentC 274]

I wonder, where can I request a new feature for this message board? 

Life has gotten a lot better since I started to use the Ignore User feature.  (Basically, to win a spot on my ignore list, all someone has to do is level a personal attack on someone else - so the list has been growing a lot over the last few days!)  But could we get an Ignore Posts Mourning Legacy function?

Not that I would deny Legacy advocates the ability to mourn the loss of Legacy or vent about their perceived inadequacy of v10 -- but I myself think v10 is terrific and want to focus my attention there.  Oh well, I guess for now I will just continue to add to my Ignore User list and move as fast as I can past all the "legacy was so great" posts. 😁

 

Vinnie

[Boot17 1,483]

On 2/27/2024 at 12:42 PM, VincentC said:

(Basically, to win a spot on my ignore list, all someone has to do is level a personal attack on someone else - so the list has been growing a lot over the last few days!)

Testing... Do you see this? 🤣

Edit: **whew** 😁

[Brian Handscomb 28]

Looks like they are applying "bans" for the Evernote equivalent of browser user agents - sad days.

Always thought the Ian Small (?) led plunge into turning EN into effectively a "web app" was wrong. Some may think EN chose the correct path and I would say you are entitled to think that... I would've liked a move to Qt if they just wanted to unify codebases as that would've provided the ability to preserve some platform specific enhancements but I guess JavaScript developers are more numerous?? After a brief "OMG this is horrible" introduction to v10 on one machine, quickly going back to the old app on Mac I watched as v10 launch farce unfolded, and later the mess made with "real time editing", the opposite of what a lot of people wanted, a manual sync button.

I started to jump ship moving my "daily diary" notes to Obsidian barely days before EN told their staff they were moving operations to a different country, almost as if there was something in the air. After a few weeks my more complicated notes ended up in Joplin and I've barely looked back... Couple of months later I cancelled my 12 year subscription leaving myself with free account "just in case"... Both work with local data even though they are Electron too, but they work well and both have sync, so I'm actually paying more but I know my data remains mine, constantly available...

Going to remember to unfollow this topic now...

So long and thanks for all the elephants...

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,981]

41 minutes ago, Brian Handscomb said:

Looks like they are applying "bans" for the Evernote equivalent of browser user agents - sad days.

❓

41 minutes ago, Brian Handscomb said:

Always thought the Ian Small (?) led plunge into turning EN into effectively a "web app" was wrong. Some may think EN chose the correct path and I would say you are entitled to think that... I would've liked a move to Qt if they just wanted to unify codebases as that would've provided the ability to preserve some platform specific enhancements but I guess JavaScript developers are more numerous?? After a brief "OMG this is horrible" introduction to v10 on one machine, quickly going back to the old app on Mac I watched as v10 launch farce unfolded, and later the mess made with "real time editing", the opposite of what a lot of people wanted, a manual sync button.

Appreciate your taking the time to express your viewpoint. To me "platform specific enhancements" would be more a problem than an advantage, if you mean something like using the whole array of fonts available on Windows--when that was possible, it only gave notes an unexpected, sometimes hard to read look on Android.

The original v. 10 launch was horrible and a farce, agreed. I stayed with v. 6 on Windows for, I don't know how long, a year or two. But v. 10 gradually began to gain and regain things I liked and wanted, and I could see it was going to be the way of the future for Evernote, so I accustomed myself to using it on the Web for a few months before installing the desktop app. So I was able to ease my way into v. 10 as it was becoming really functional. The abrupt transition people will have to go through now will be pretty miserable, but IMHO self-inflicted given the time we've had.

As for RTE vs. sync button ... a lot of people wanted RTE too. Here's my aha moment (aside from the amazement of watching an edit on one device appear in, yes, real time on another): I was editing a note on my phone when it died. I turned on my laptop, and there was every bit of the note intact, down to the partial word I was typing when the phone died. If I'd been depending on a sync button, I'd have been sunk.

Crud, I said I wasn't going to answer any more of these. But this was reasonable enough to even be fairly enjoyable.

[Brian Handscomb 28]

One "platform specific enhancement" I was thinking about was AppleScript... I've seen a bunch of people mourn the loss with v10... Not something I personally used though...

I thank the author of YARLE, which let me see Obsidian/Joplin with "my data", and though I'd say neither quite matches original Evernote in doing what it did well each has their good points and I have seen about 8 months "life after Evernote". It was a good 12 years of subscribing, plus 8 months or so knowing I could always look back on Evernote to see what the original note looked like.

I think my fave version of Evernote was Mac v5 - even simple things like the dividing line between the note title and note content but a lot of other little bits of UI just seemed better..... But a couple of macOS updates ago put the end to that... Had to jump to v7...

Crud, wasn't going to post any more ;)

[FabioMC 0]

I love the reminders view checklist with drag-and-drop reordering and checkboxes. I definitely can´t use the new version without that feature.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

Then you can’t - 22 days to find an alternative that can.

You could have made the switch 3 years ago, and fight for features important to you. Or you are where you are now: Take it as it is, or leave.

[Razmataz 220]

14 hours ago, FabioMC said:

I love the reminders view checklist with drag-and-drop reordering and checkboxes. I definitely can´t use the new version without that feature.

Fabio,

this is the wrong place to say anything like that. You will be scolded for not being able to see the vast superiority of V10. Typically you will be told, too, that nobody needs the feature you a missing. And sent away.

I sympathize and I am ashamed.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

It has nothing to do with being send away.

Asking 22 days before a software is shut off to change another software that 99% of all users are employing is pointless. Trying to do so would be reckless. Supporting this is in my opinion ridiculous.

Too late is too late, and it is nothing I feel ashamed about telling.

 

Who wants to ask for features added to v10 can do this here:

feedback@evernote.com

Personally I hope EN staff will choose wisely and with reluctance. Nobody needs another piece of bloatware, just because it seems easier to ask for changes of an app instead of adapting and streamlining the own workflows and use habits. It may be a challenge, but it is for sure a chance.

[Razmataz 220]

11 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

Personally I hope EN staff will choose wisely and with reluctance.

But of course, @PinkElephant, but of course. And more reluctantly than wisely, I am sure.

Just out out curiosity: is there a single thing that you find less appealing in V10 than it was in legacy? Or were all choices made in infinite wisdom and do not need to be re-evaluated? If you, V10 was made just for you. But EN/BS needs to be alert, they may end up with you as a single customer 😂

[PinkElephant 8,244]

When I went back from v10 to legacy (back then, when I still had both installed), it just felt outdated and old. Like when opening an app that was new when Windows XP was the latest in tech. My opinion, anybody can have his own.

The only view from legacy that I miss is the page listing all tags in several columns. I used it for my occasional tag housekeeping. I have expressed this in other postings, and with EN as well.

That's it, with everything else I am more interested in what will be than what was.

[gazumped 11,741]

1 hour ago, Razmataz said:

But EN/BS needs to be alert, they may end up with you as a single customer

Quite a few others have mentioned their continuing support,  and I'll still be around...  I think Evernote will survive.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

Survive what - the exodus of 1% of the user base (assuming every legacy user leaves) ?

We will help every fellow user with a sincere question. Not anybody will find his solution in the answers.

If I were still on legacy, I would for sure not wait with my actions to see if EN will still be around on the 24th.

Just as a reminder:

1. Move your „local only“ notebooks (if any) to the server, or export them.
2. Make sure everything is synced
3. Download the v10-installer from the EN website and run it.
4. Log in, wait a little the 1st time, check if everything looks OK.
5. Let the app running in the background for a while, to allow the full download of your content.
6. To completely uninstall any EN client, use Revo Uninstaller (PC) / AppCleaner (Mac).

[BummedJim 8]

I’m a little scared even to say it, but after Evernote shut down sync access to Legacy in March, this old faithful software looks better to me than it's ever been! I never really wanted Evernote for sync'ing at all, and from comments here it looks like I'm not the only one -- helluva long thread isn't it. For me, the tragedy came way back when they dropped support for local notebooks when Evernote 10 first rolled out. Since then it's been Legacy all the way.

 

Well now, as far as I can tell so far, everything I've got in Legacy has become a private notebook, and just as good as ever for that purpose. There’d be no need for a subscription even, would there -- I've just kept on using it. FWIW I'm currently running Legacy under MacOS Ventura on my laptop, so I'm still concerned just a little about whether this'll all still hold true after upgrading to Sonoma. Has anyone here had experience with that?

 

Fellow community members, please do set me straight right away if I'm barking up the wrong evergreen, but I'm starting to really rely on this. I don't want to lead myself or others astray. The Legacy software isn't a subscription product that'll expire after a year or something, is it?

 

I keep pushing out all my Evernote notebooks to .enex on a regular basis just in case, so I can export them to Joplin, MacOS Notes etc. if need be. But I've tried that often before, and like so many Legacy users here, I've found that competitors' note-making software, paid and open-source alike, just cannot offer me anything like the workflow I've built my working life around for a dozen-plus years as an academic researcher. I've got many thousands of notes across dozens of different notebooks, with complete capability for cross-notebook lookups, note-to-note link copying, Skitch image markups, direct pasting of images into notes and the ability to save back out again as png's ... the list goes on and on. And of course all with good old wysiwyg html just like in this comments window, not all that geeky shouting of "but Markup is so much better!" I think with this thing, literally.

 

So now that Legacy appears to be truly standalone and local, I'm finding it could potentially be more secure than ever. Sensitive work data, anyone? Random personal content like logins/passwords, medical notes, taxes, launch codes? That's been the use case for private notebooks forever, hasn't it. Who would ever want any of that live-sync'ed to cloud storage and vulnerable to cyberattacks? And with truly standalone Legacy, I'm still finding the content storage is as dependable as anything else on my computer could be, what with my nightly local backups to external ssd's via Carbon Copy Cloner (or MacOS time machine etc), and regular .enex saves to compressed, password-protected zip's for upload to gdrive, onedrive, icloud etc.  And we always back up our computers like it's a religion, right?

 

As sad as it is to read across this thread that all the institutional knowledge built into Legacy has fallen off the cliff with long-ago departures of everybody who built it and understood the code base, so that there'll never be open-sourcing or a 'competing' product from Evernote, I'm just gonna live with that big red notice at the top of the Legacy screen. And BTW, that's easy to hide too -- just open a new window and minimize the one that opens when the Legacy starts up.

 

Am I missing something big here about the "death" of Legacy? Long may it live ;-). (And pssst to the folks at evernote.com,  that's a supported product I really would pay for.)

 

Jim

[agsteele 2,964]

Under no circumstances log out, reinstall the software or anything which might force you to log in again. At that point the Legacy software will cease working.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

If you are discovering you want to host things yourself, you could take a look at DEVONThink.

Apple ecosystem only.

[BummedJim 8]

agsteele wrote:

Quote

Under no circumstances log out, reinstall the software or anything which might force you to log in again

Thank you agsteele or that  warning! Incredible bummer to told Legacy will never open again if I log out. Unfathomable really. And deeply scary.  But I knew I had to be missing something crucial in my rhapsodizing about Legacy after sync'ing to their servers ended.

Unless it's not as dire as all that, somehow? Or am i really going never to see my decade's-worth of notes again??? Just by logging out?? How in god's name?

Has anyone here actually done what agsteele is warning against? I don't want to be the first.

[MvdH 434]

The logging process protects your notes. And is done through the servers. Ergo, now servers for legacy (logically), no logging in possible, so great danger to lose access.

That danger would be enough reason for me to leave legacy on itself. 

Asside for from that. Using such old software that might break any second after an OS update would be enough reason by itself. 

And the fact that software is always full of bugs, dangers and leaks (so legacy also) and is not being looked at, fixed and kept robust against attackers would be reason enough by itself, for me to quit legacy as soon as possible. 

Not unfathomable, but logical and needed and announced. Legacy is out of service and not safe to use anymore. Not reliable also. Not wise to use. No matter what you think of it and how you love it. It is a fact of life. 

[gazumped 11,741]

3 hours ago, BummedJim said:

am i really going never to see my decade's-worth of notes again???

There's no risk of losing access to your notes... they'll always be available - via v10 - if/ when you install it.  Having left the conversion so late though,  it will be a real shock to your system when you start to use it...  

[PinkElephant 8,244]

The only notes that will not be there will be those in local notebooks. You need to take care of these before you move ahead.

[MvdH 434]

No. Also the notes will not be in v10 or the cloud, that you made in legacy after the server APIs were not available to legacy anymore. 

[mackid1993 918]

Continuing to run legacy in an offline state is just asking to suffer data loss at any time. Doing so will be only the fault of the user that ignored all warnings. It's really such a bad idea. It's best to move on, find a new solution adapt, change. All things that seem so hard for people to do. SAAS can't be expected to last in perpetuity forever.