EndNote X9 was released yesterday!
https://endnote.com
I don’t have a Web of Science subscription, and I know what journal I am targeting, so what are the other advantages to this upgrade? Are there real improvements to the sharing and syncing capabilities, for example?
Looking forward to community feedback before recommending the new version to our Institution.
A 30-day demo version is free, everyone can decide themsevles if an upgrade worth it for them.
My first impressions are that there are no obvious changes in appearence and functionality compared to X8 (MacOS), that would benefit an average user.
The main reason I upgraded is the extremely awful, horrible and substandard perforemace of X8 on MacOS. If EndNote sticks to their previous strategy, X9 will be the only version that they keep fixing with updates.
However, X9 still keeps crashing on MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6.
I have absolutely no idea what new the developers did for this version. In conclusion, I would say upgrading is a waste of money at this point. And just to put this in context: the major feature of X8 was new icons (ridiculous); EndNote forced users to upgrade for a lot of money by saying X7 won’t run on newer operating systems. Now, again, they will force people to upgrade, but they don’t improve/fix anything. Basically EndNote became an expensive subscription service with lousy performance. Shame!
Thank you for posting this. I had posted a few weeks ago asking why anyone should upgrade and got no replies from EndNote. Honestly, there is no new functionality in ENX9 that I need or would use; sounds like they updated the software to have a new revenue cycle. The reality is that I’d happily pay a small amount if they’d simply fix the major bugs with ENX8, which have been there since I upgraded from ENX7: terrible slowdowns in the performance of the application along with unusable scrolling of my reference list, plus problems with PDFs if I try to use their own PDF viewer. All they have ever done from an IT perspective is blame Apple. That’s lame and sloppy. No other application I own has such issues with PDFs or performance, If another application did have such issues, their support folks certainly would work with Apple if that is what was needed, or else figure out how to work around it on their own. I will see what the demo looks like but I doubt it fixes anything. EndNote has become the buggiest, most poorly-designed app I have on my Mac, and that says a lot given that I also have Office365…
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Even better: they didn’t make it 64-bit. So it won’t run for long on MacOS-32-bit apps are being depricated. This was noted on this forum months ago. Do they not know that future version of the Mac won’t run 32-bit apps??? Would it have killed them to recompile this?
Sure enough, the scrolling is the same as before: terrible and jerky. And the PDF scrolling issues are still there; any PDF I open in their Reference Window will suddenly scroll back to the same random part of the PDF.
No fixes, no enhancements that mean anything to most people. This is nonsense.
So the folks at Endnote pushed out a paid update that does not fix the extremely major issues we’ve been having on macOS, they didn’t make it 64-bit, so it will stop working next month, AND they did not even offer those of us who have had issues for months any kind of steep discount to stay with them as a way of saying we’re sorry. Yep, I’m headed to a different product. I’ve had Mendeley installed for a while. I’m going to check that one and BookEnds which someone mentioned on another thread. Its disgusting what this company has done to this product. It used to be the industry standard, the thing I told EVERYONE to get. Now, I can’t even use it. /SAD
So the folks at Endnote pushed out a paid update that does not fix the extremely major issues we’ve been having on macOS, they didn’t make it 64-bit, so it will stop working next month, AND they did not even offer those of us who have had issues for months any kind of steep discount to stay with them as a way of saying we’re sorry. Yep, I’m headed to a different product. I’ve had Mendeley installed for a while. I’m going to check that one and BookEnds which someone mentioned on another thread. Its disgusting what this company has done to this product. It used to be the industry standard, the thing I told EVERYONE to get. Now, I can’t even use it. /SAD
I agree with all of what you said, but keep in mind that one can still use the existing X8. I am. Mojave doesn’t refuse to run 32-bit apps (at least not so far), but does display a one-time warning when launching each individual 32-bit app. The warning states that the developer will need to update the app. Clearly EndNote didn’t get the memo.
I mean, this is a paid app. An expensive one at that. And they are clueless. They were horribly late to update long after office365 had been out (do they not work with Microsoft to get the betas we all got from them?) and nothing suggests they’ll recompile for 64-bit requirements anytime soon. No new functionality (seriously; what they claim as new features is ludicrous. What’s next: a new icon being touted as a new feature?), same terrible or nonexistent tech support that is clueless about Macs, and the same painful bugs. Yeah, that’s a great rationale to spend more money on EndNote.
I agree with you 100%. I posted when the 64-bit thing became a deal a few months ago. They said they would look into it and make a decision later. I thought Mojave didn’t run 32-bit apps, so that’s a little encouraging. But as you said, for an expensive App to not have timely updates is craziness. Its also clear they do not follow macOS betas either because they are always behind when a new macOS comes out too. If they have another year to do a 64-bit App, then expect it to be X10 with 64-bit support! Yippee! Talk about late to the party. I just can’t believe they are trying to milk us for every dime. For me…its just not worth it anymore.
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I cannot believe that Endnote publishes a paid upgrade that won’t work with the next macOS release only a month away. They were late with X9 support for High Sierra and almost a year later I still don’t have a reliable app that does not crash. I don’t think the company’s current business model of asking users to fork out more money for a new version of a buggy app will work for much longer. Endnote should focus on fixing the existing X8 version so that the users get what they originally paid (a lot of money) for.
My reply to their official response. Not encouraging at all.
“It is a blame game with Apple and this is not acceptable. May eventually be forced to move to an EndNote alternative, which is a shame. For sure no reason to upgrade to ENX9 since the app has the same bugs and problems. Other referencing apps like Booknotes handle PDFs perfectly so unless Apple has it in for you it seems odd that for two years this has been an issue. The lack of any fixes sends a big message that you no longer really care about the OS X platform. I’m taking notice of that.
Best regards,
David
On Aug 15, 2018, at 1:15 PM, Technical Support – EndNote <RS.SUPPORT> wrote:
Dear David,
Thank you for contacting Clarivate Analytics Customer Care.
I certainly understand how frustrating it’d be from a user’s standpoint to not be able to use the program that you paid for. I apologize for all the inconveniences caused to you.
As you are aware, we have on going issue with PDF viewer and crashing issue. This issue caused due to changes made in the Apple. I do agree with you that this may appear like a blame game on Apple however it is possible that Apple will release an update to Sierra and High Sierra that will include bug fixes for these issues, thus improving the PDF experience for X7/X8/X9 users without a release from EndNote.
Please note that we have been actively following up on the announcement of Mac OS compatibility with 32-bit applications and plans to address 64-bit compatibility for EndNote are underway. However, at this point in time, I do not have a time frame to provide on when that update would be released for EndNote. You should be able to use EndNote program.
Once again, we are terribly sorry for the trouble.
Sincerely,</RS.SUPPORT>
I’m done. I have better things to do than try to deal with many painful longstanding bugs in overpriced and undersupported software. Been an EndNote user and former beta tester for years but it’s changed hands many times and now is in the hands of folks who just don’t seem to care or know how to code. X9 has the same bugs (slowdowns, poor scrolling, PDF issues galore) that x8 has. And x9 remains a 32-bit app. Updates are infrequent and generally late with regard to Word and OS updates that render EN unusable. I tried Bookends from Sonnysoftware.com and it seems amazing. None of the PDF issues, a very responsive developer and it seems to be able to do even more than EN. So buh-bye. EndNote has lost me as a loyal customer and I’m just sorry I didn’t learn about Bookends 2-3 years ago.
Since Mojave is the last OS to support 32bit app, we have one more year, but why should we buy or upgrade software knowing that we can’t use it next year. Moving on.
Given the griping about X9, I wonder what the alternatives are. How is Zotero? WHat I need (and like about Endnote) is that I can customize templates to the comma and space. Zotero looks tricky for this. (Involves some sort of HTML language that’s beyond me).
Everyone has different needs and processes. I tried a lot of them including Zotero and Mendeley and in the end chose Bookends, which has worked out very well for me. I find it better than Endnote for what I need and it is also way inexpensive. The support is very quick and helpful. And it is 64-bit. You might want to check any of these out but I do recommend Bookends for most Mac users.