Password Safe to KeePass at SimpleBusiness.org

I am switching from Password Safe to KeePass. After using Password Safe for a many months now, there are some things about it that kept nagging me to change.

First, it does not have a Chinese interface. Not that I use chinese interface on my desktop but I really like to use one that support Chinese so that I could recommend it to Chinese friends.

Second, it’s interface kept getting in the way. Can’t say exactly what it is but it is uncomfortable.

Third, KeePass interface and website really look much better. Well, like it or not, we do judge a book by its cover.

I found KeePass a while back. A typical change-resister, I was reluctant to learn a new software and didn’t make the switch. Easpecially afer so many passwords were already stored and Password Safe was OK after using for a short while.

The reason for finally making the switch today is unclear. Maybe it was because I found KeePass listed as one of the top SourceForge project. Something must be right about it. Another look at the nice website, I was sold.

Importing from Password Safe database

After some false start the data was imported from Password Safe database.
If you are importing from Password Safe to KeePass, this is what you need to do:

Use the Password Safe function to export to CSV file
(File -> Export To -> Plain Text)
Import the text file into KeePass
(File->Import From->PWSafe v2 TXT file)

The mistake I made was to import the encrypted datafile which produces garbage.

First impression

Look aside, the interface is a much welcomed changed. Left-right-bottom Tree-Content-Data windows layout is well thought out.

With a long list of entries, in Password Safe I had to scroll all the way up and down and double click to see account data. The KeePass layout makes it very easy and fast to find and see data.

KeePass also seems to have more feature. I say so not because I had used any but from the look of the menus and the setup.

For example in setting up a new password database, there is a very fancy interface to generate password from mouse movement!

So far so good. Now I’m going to organise the entries and start look at those nice icons.