Endnote 8 for Students Only

Rating:
Summary: Do not buy EndNote 8-stick with version 7
Review: I used EndNote 7 at the office to keep track of many publications and references. I had a library with more than 1,100 references entered that became almost useless as soon as I was upgraded to version 8. We upgraded mainly because 8 has updated style options and a better selection of reference types. However, the program does not save any settings other than changes to styles and reference types. This means constantly having to re-size windows that open in seemingly random sizes and locations. Also copy and paste features in version 8 do not work as well as in EndNote 7. Also, believe it or not, was not able to export any references for several days for no apparent reason. There is still more- the new reference types such as 'Conference Paper' and 'Conference Proceeding' were not correct and needed to be changed manually. The new search box is confusing. Finally, my EndNote 8 library was only 200 references larger than it was in EndNote 7, but EndNote chokes each time a library of that size is sorted. Generally I found 8 so untrustworthy because of all this that I created copies of the library after every 10 new references.

Rating:
Summary: Works with SP 2
Review: The makers of endnote have created a patch for Endnote 8 so that it is compatible with Service Pack 2. You can get it from their website.

I came across Endnote last term while writing a huge paper and it was really helpful. I imported the citations from my library's search engines and also put some in by hand. While inserting citations and creating bibliography, it was extremely easy to use with Microsoft Word. I don't think I'm going to write a paper without it again.

Rating:
Summary: Little value for the money
Review: The software is priced too high for the little value it provides. Unless you subscribe directly to the research sites that are available within the application, you will have to manually enter your research information into the product. Ironically, I couldn't manage to import research from InfoTrac (made by the same company) into EndNote. Furthermore, the software DOES NOT RUN ON XP SP2! After installing the service pack, I found that EndNote would crash whenever editing a research library. There isn't much help on Gale's site except for a small blurb about how the software doesn't run on XP SP2 and to not install SP2. Lazy programming all around.

Rating:
Summary: Beware of Endnote 8
Review: Those who wish to upgrade from earlier versions to version 8, do it at your own risk. I bought Endnote 8 as soon as it was released because of its unicode support. The big shock after the purchase wasto realize that Endnote did not work together with Windows XP sevice pack 2, which I had already installed. Until I learned about it, though, I spent hours trying fix the program. A patch fixing the XP SP2 compatiblity issue was released literally months after the initial release of the program, which made the program completely useless for me in the meantime. After installing the patch, however, it turned out compatibility with XP was only a small part of the problem, since Endnote 8 was completely full of other bugs. The program frequently hangs, or gives cryptic error messages. In addition to the fact the program does not save any previous setting, it is also unreliable. I spent hours and hours again trying to fix the problems first on my own (using the instructions on Endnote webpage) then with the help of the support staff. I should add that there is no toll free support help, and the person I had to deal with was absolutely clueless about how to make the program work for me. Finally, he noted my email address, promising to email me a day later, and I have not heard anything from them for a week.

The bottomline is that months after releasing the program, the company has not produced a patch to fix the common problems about which everybody is complaining. For the time being, I returned to the version 7, but since I need the unicode support, I am looking for an alternative software to switch. It is sad to see Endnote in this condition, but upgrades do not improve programs. If you use earlier versions and feel absolutely stuck with Endnote, wait until they release a comprehensive patch fixing at least most of the problems.

Update (February 1): Endnote has recently released another patch to fix some of the common problems associated with the initial release of the software, and after installing the patch, the program seems to work fine.