KeePassX - a Free, Open-Source, Cross-Platform Password Application

It's a situation we all run into, those of us who are heavy computer users. We know we've been to a website in the past... we just know it! We remember being there; we recognize the layout and graphics. And yet, we don't remember our username or password. And then when we try to retrieve them, the website spits out a message telling us our email address has changed.

So we sign up all over again for another account. Not a big deal, obviously, but kind of a waste of time. Definitely something that could have been avoided.

One way to alleviate this, of course, is to keep a master list of all our sensitive information. This can include our usernames and passwords for websites, account information for banks and credit cards, serial numbers for software we've purchased... practically anything.

But how do you keep that list? On the back of an envelope? In a lined, spiral notebook? How about on the computer, in a text document or in a spreadsheet?

Those would all work, but none of them, with the possible exception of the spreadsheet, provide any real structure to your lists, and none of them at all are designed for this. There are password applications, available for Mac, some for Windows and others for Linux (I've gone over a few of them in past reviews), but I recently found one, called KeePassX, that I think might be the best of all.

Why? A couple reasons. First is that it's encrypted. It might be an obvious thing, maybe so obvious that people don't really think about it, but in my mind anything you use to keep track of your private, sensitive information (such as passwords and account information), should really be locked up, right? That's why people buy huge safes and put their insurance and stock market information inside them.

It should be the same with computer software. What's the good of keeping all that information together if the first person who gains access to your computer also gets free access to all your accounts? Not a good security situation, that's for sure. But oddly enough, I've actually looked at a few password database applications that don't even use simple password protection, not to mention higher security encryption.