# Software Review: The Archive **URL:** \ **Category:** The Johnny.Decimal system\ **Created:** [March 28, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74 "2021-03-28T02:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![canion](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/canion/32/5_2.png) [@canion](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/canion)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/1 "2021-03-28T02:00:00Z")
Over on the JD Discord, @johnnydecimal himself asked if I could write something up about [The Archive software](https://zettelkasten.de/the-archive/). As a loyal citizen of the Johnny.Decimal empire, I’ve done as The King has requested. You are welcome to read [my review of The Archive](https://canion.me/the-archive). ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 4:22am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/2 "2021-03-28T04:22:24Z")
Ha! You will be rewarded with many fine lands and a gallon of mead. Interesting review, I’ll check it out. Thanks. I do miss the days of nvAlt. I mean yeah you can still use it but clearly it’s falling apart at the sides. The simplicity, the singularity of purpose, were second-to-none. ---
**Author:** ![yasirbilgic](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/a88e4f/32.png) [@yasirbilgic](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/yasirbilgic)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 11:46am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/3 "2021-03-28T11:46:07Z")
Thank you for this great and informative review. Is there a Windows equivalent for this software? ---
**Author:** ![macosxguru](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@macosxguru](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/macosxguru)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 12:17pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/4 "2021-03-28T12:17:26Z")
Another review of The Archive: [The Archive Adds Zettelkästen to the Note-Taking Arsenal - Bicycle For Your Mind](http://bicycleforyourmind.com/the_archive_review) I don’t need lands, but can I have some mead? macosxguru ---
**Author:** ![canion](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/canion/32/5_2.png) [@canion](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/canion)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/5 "2021-03-28T15:24:58Z")
Glad to see you here, @macosxguru - I love your website and it’s a good day when my RSS reader gets something from you in it! ---
**Author:** ![macosxguru](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@macosxguru](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/macosxguru)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 3:38pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/6 "2021-03-28T15:38:17Z")
Thank you for making my day. macosxguru ---
**Author:** ![ks84](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/b5e925/32.png) [@ks84](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/ks84)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 12:03am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/7 "2021-03-30T00:03:48Z")
Thanks for this. Wondering if you’ve used Obsidian and had any thoughts about how it compares to the archive? ---
**Author:** ![canion](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/canion/32/5_2.png) [@canion](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/canion)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/8 "2021-03-30T04:16:48Z")
I’ve tried using Obsidian, and for a number of reasons I don’t like it. I think the main reason for my dislike is it being an Electron app - making it an island of sort that doesn’t benefit from other macOS niceties (e.g. Services menu). People rave about Obsidian - and it is probably the most feature rich - but it doesn’t tickle me. Ironically, I do use Dynalist - made by the same developers. ---
**Author:** ![ks84](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/b5e925/32.png) [@ks84](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/ks84)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/9 "2021-03-30T06:15:14Z")
Interesting. I checked out The Archive a little bit. The fact that it’s cross-links aren’t actually true links and the complete lack of a folder hierarchy was a bit strange for me. Plus obsidian’s much greater customisability and things like graph view make it infinitely more useful I think, at least for me. ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 7:00am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/10 "2021-03-30T07:00:31Z")
Exactly the reasons I also didn’t like it. I opened it, tried a standard Mac keyboard shortcut, it didn’t work, I deleted it. ---
**Author:** ![ks84](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/b5e925/32.png) [@ks84](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/ks84)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/11 "2021-04-01T19:10:18Z")
@johnnydecimal have you tried notable? ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/12 "2021-04-01T21:59:05Z")
Interesting. I’ll have a look. I like that it’s built on VS Code, seems to indicate that I could use the Vim mode plugin? ---
**Author:** ![cobblepot](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@cobblepot](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/cobblepot)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 12:14am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/13 "2021-04-02T00:14:21Z")
I see the Mac-heads on this forum aren’t going to help you out here 😄 There’s a whole world of notetaking Windows-compatible notetaking software but nothing exactly like TheArchive (not that it’s the best). Zettlr is the closest thing. You can look at many options on the r/Zettlekasten subReddit; there’s a software comparison table on the wiki there. I like Logseq and Obsidian. ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 2:16am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/14 "2021-04-02T02:16:13Z")
Hmm just noticed that this is currently desktop-only. That’s probably a deal-breaker for me, I need sync across all my devices. Still gonna check it out, looks neat. Edit: but the files are just .md on disk. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![ks84](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/b5e925/32.png) [@ks84](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/ks84)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 8:16am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/15 "2021-04-02T08:16:27Z")
Yes. And you can add attachments. Is one of the big draws of notable for me. Currently I’m leaning towards Obsidian for my personal knowledge repository and notable for smaller, project-specific notes. ---
**Author:** ![ks84](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/b5e925/32.png) [@ks84](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/ks84)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 8:18am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/16 "2021-04-02T08:18:32Z")
Notable is cross platform. ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 6:00am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/17 "2021-04-09T06:00:29Z")
@canion So I’m kicking the tires of The Archive and I like it! It seems just powerful enough to be useful (although now I’m a rabbit-hole of theming…) but not _too_ powerful to be distracting (looking at you, [Drafts](https://getdrafts.com). I love the way they’ve implemented search, and it’s so nice to have Cmd+L back as an instant, get-anywhere hotkey. ---
**Author:** ![dixonge](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/dixonge/32/10_2.png) [@dixonge](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/dixonge)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 11:23am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/18 "2021-04-09T11:23:34Z")
I have a license, but so far have failed to find a great use for it. Just went through yet another round of “wow so many people love emacs and org-mode I should try that again” just to come to the same conclusions and ditch it all. So here I am, back at VS Code + extensions. At least I did come up w/ a new terminal (Kitty) and got my oh-my-zsh up and running again, including powerlevel10k prompts. It’s so pretty. LOL ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/19 "2021-04-09T21:01:13Z")
> [@dixonge](#): > > At least I did come up w/ a new terminal (Kitty) and got my oh-my-zsh up and running again, including powerlevel10k prompts Screenshots plz. I rocked VSC + extensions for a while at work but it was just too slow. Not sure if that was the crummy old HP or the software. The thing I like about The Archive (or nvALT or that family of editor in general) is the speed. It doesn’t do much but what it does is basically instantaneous. ---
**Author:** ![dixonge](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/dixonge/32/10_2.png) [@dixonge](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/dixonge)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 3:05am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74/20 "2021-04-10T03:05:42Z")
> [@johnnydecimal](#): > > Screenshots plz. kitty terminal ![kitty](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/b0975d8a5871d3a5d56a4831232588e6fbdc9155.png) VS Code and the never-ending todo list ![vscode](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/e53fc2ba0f77ac1c54706a3121ce42d858afbcc9.jpeg) [Next page](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/software-review-the-archive/74.md?page=2)