For note taking, I've been a devoted user of KeyNote for years. But recently, I found a new tool that definitely became my new choice. Before I go on I must say that this is no ordinary app, and that for making the most of it, you must be some sort of a power user. Web developers will feel right at home. But once you understand the logic, it is really really powerful.
TiddlyWiki is a web application, but not in the traditional server-browser approach. It is a web page that, using modern techniques, makes for the whole application: user interface, logic and data repository. That is, you only need to carry around the web page to have your note taking system with you. It is perfectly suited for carrying in your usb memory drive. You authorize writing to disk once (I didn't know this could be done, and I am into web development) and up you go.
From the original TiddlyWiki (
http://www.tiddlywiki.com) there have been many variations, extending or specialising the basic concept, which is: every note is a TIDDLER. It has a title, body text and tags. The body text is edited using Wiki notation, which is quite easy to get used to. An example:
!Title level 1
!!Title level 2
* this is
* a bullet
* list
# this is
# a numbered
# list
I know, many users won't do without a WYSIWYG interface. But I know many others simply LOVE this degree of control. And there are some that would simply get used to, once they find the power of the tiddler
There is full-text search, features for working with tags, dates and so on. For the GTDers out there, there are at least three incarnations of TW specific for David Allen's methods. I use d3 (d-cubed )
http://www.dcubed.ca/, which adds many GTD oriented macros (yes: there are macros here).
For a quick overview of what is TiddlyWiki and some of the available versions, go to
http://www.socio-kybernetics.net/saurierduval/2005/07/tiddlywiki-mania.html. So go there, pick your flavour and give it a try. Though the first impression might be a bit weird, it DOES make sense. I met EverNote about a month after TiddlyWiki, and I must say EN arrived late. This is a TW territory already!