Notational Velocity is an application that stores and retrieves notes. While there are many, many note-taking programs for Mac OS X, Notational Velocity is the only one that actually operates in a useful manner. The rationale behind this statement consists not of vague terms like "intuitive", "powerful", and "full-featured", but rather is based on the program's employment of well regarded and recognized practices in user interface design. Notational Velocity's advantages are as follows:

• The chief domain of the program (editing and adding notes) is fundamentally modeless.
  

• The program features an instantaneous incremental search. From a human interaction standpoint, incremental searching is superior to the delimited searching found in most software today.
  

• All primary functions are fully accessible from the keyboard; the user need never lay hands on a pointing device. As the keyboard is the source of all input when composing a note, the time saved from not having to move one's hand between the keyboard and the mouse during other interactions is significant.

Notational Velocity has the following singular combination of features:

• The same area is used for both searching for existing notes and entering the descriptions of new notes. As one types the description of a new note, related notes immediately appear below, providing one the chance to file information into an existing note instead of a new one. Likewise, if a search for some piece of information turns up negative, one need simply press return to create a new note with the appropriate description.
  

• In conformance to the duality of purpose of the search/description area, typing the beginning of the description of an existing note will trigger the "auto-completion" of that description. Accordingly, selecting an existing note will place that note's description in the search/description area, and deselecting the note will restore the previously typed text.
  

• Notational Velocity has no explicit "save" command; all modifications to a note take effect immediately.
  

• There is more than one way of getting information into Notational Velocity; with alternatives from system-wide services to drag-and-drop in the Dock, one's workflow need never be impeded.
  

• Finally, while Notational Velocity secures its database via the 128-bit International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA), it provides the option of securing one's password in the Mac OS Keychain, thereby relieving the user from entering it at every application launch.
  

• Written in Cocoa with Objective-C and POSIX C.

While the above may come across as verbose, Notational Velocity is not difficult to use. Below are tips on optimal usage.

Follow these steps to add a new note:

1. In the Search/Description area, begin typing the description of the note (e.g. "Stanley Kubrick's favorite films").
2. Hit return or tab to move to the data entry area.
3. Type or paste the actual contents of the note.

Follow these steps to search for (and possibly edit) an existing note:

1. Begin typing in the Search/Description area. Notational Velocity will process your text as a filter, showing only those notes whose descriptions or contents contain the phrase.
2. View the contents of a note by selecting it with the up/down arrow keys, if necessary.

Observe that the first step in each operation is the same.

To make good use of Notational Velocity, try to ensure that the contents of a note pertain only to its description. Notational Velocity's strength lies in its search capabilities. If a very small number of notes contains a great deal of unrelated information, the application becomes only slightly more efficient than something like TextEdit. Please do not misuse Notational Velocity.

A good entry might go something like this (note the brevity and specificity of the body):

Description: How to cook with cornsalt

Body of note: Buy box of Arm & Hammer raw cornsalt. Sprinkle on poultry before broiling.