Kobo Desktop 1.8

Kobo Desktop is a free client application similar to iTunes, that offers ebooks for sale from its own database. You can browse and buy books from dozens of catalogues offered by the Kobo service sorted by genre, recent added, and top 50. They also offer a great collection of free ebooks from the classic literature.

Your acquired collection of books can be managed by the client application into a virtual library which can be accessed any time even if the application is in offline mode. This library has an online correspondent on your Kobo's account which can be synced with your other libraries from your portable devices which have the correspondent Kobo client installed. This is possible because the company offers several versions of their client application for the major mobile devices such as iPhone, BlackBerry, for Android OS and Palm gadgets.

Kobo comes with a minimal interface based on a Mac like design with a simple an clean menu on the left. From the menu you can view the content of your library and store, and your account info. Each ebook will be opened in a separate window which features its own menu. This menu is dynamic and can be hidden any time in order not to disturb your reading session. But in case you want to browse the book's chapters, or view the book's content, you can bring the command menu in front by a simple click. For the perfect reading experience you can choose the full-screen mode.

If the full-screen mode is not enough for your eyes, you can also change the font size of the text but you can't change the font style. If the white background can become overwhelming for your eyes, there is no way you can change the background color or style. There is no way you can point out a paragraph or a prase or make an annotation. So if you feel like having a powerful ebook reader, go search for another application.

Pluses: free, offers a huge ebooks data base, libraries on any device can be synced based on your personal online library, minimal, clear interface;

Drawbacks/flaws: lack of font and background control, no add notes system, cannot read ebooks acquired from other sources;

In conclusion: Kobo Desktop can accomplish only your basic needs in terms of reading an ebook but offers a huge database which is daily updated from where you can choose any desirable book.

version reviewed: 1.8