This is big news! The mekentosj crew has silently rolled out a pre-release version of their upcoming Papers for Windows app. This is good news for iPad owners in academia, especially if you are also using a Windows PC – so we make an exception here and briefly talk about a Windows app on academiPad.

Before this announcement, the two big-dog PDF management systems Papers and Sente were Mac / iOS only, which means that you had to resort to dedicated PDF reading apps like iAnnotate if you wanted to establish a (rather clumsy) reading workflow between your iPad and your Windows machine. With Papers’ move into the Windows world, the days of not finding the article you are looking for might be over soon.

I haven’t tried out the pre-release version of Papers for Windows myself, but mekentosj published a comparison chart on their blog:

Papers for Windows is still lacking some core features such as highlighting and iOS Sync. Let's hope that these features will be added by the time the full release rolls around.

As you can see, some of the most important features such as highlighting and iOS Sync have note made it into the pre-release. I cannot imagine a world in which these features will not be added in a later, full release, as they are the core of what users want to do with this app (and therefore the core of mekentosj business). The only question is: when will they be added?

What does this all mean for you?

If you are using a Windows machine and you are on academiPad just for getting some fresh ideas on how to use your iPad, then this is your lucky day. Once the iOS sync is added, you won’t be excluded any longer from establishing an integrated read-write-cite workflow across your devices. The Magic Manuscript feature we know from Papers for Mac already works in Papers for Windows, so you can go ahead, try it out, and if you like it you can finally ditch Endnote.

You might be wondering what this excitement is all about. You are doing just fine with storing all your PDFs on dropbox and annotating them on your iPad with iAnnotate or PDF Expert, you say? Good point, but please check out these two posts: The first one discusses three different approaches to PDF annotation and management, and the second one is a detailed review on Papers for Mac. Just keep the comparison chart from above in your mind when reading the second post.

If you don’t use a Windows machine, this announcement does not change much for you. You still have to make up your mind what PDF management system is the best for you.

Check back soon, as this mini-series of PDF Management Systems will conclude soon with some good tips on whether you might fare better with Sente or Papers.

What you can do right now is to let Windows users know that Papers is coming their way. Please use the sharing and email buttons below.

Disclaimer: All images by mekentosj. Please consider sharing this article if you found it useful.