Index: /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/dialogs/NotesDialog.java
===================================================================
--- /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/dialogs/NotesDialog.java	(revision 8224)
+++ /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/dialogs/NotesDialog.java	(revision 8225)
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@
 import java.awt.event.MouseAdapter;
 import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
-import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
+import java.text.DateFormat;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
@@ -46,4 +46,5 @@
 import org.openstreetmap.josm.gui.layer.NoteLayer;
 import org.openstreetmap.josm.tools.ImageProvider;
+import org.openstreetmap.josm.tools.date.DateUtils;
 
 /**
@@ -229,5 +230,5 @@
 
         private DefaultListCellRenderer defaultListCellRenderer = new DefaultListCellRenderer();
-        private final SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("dd MMM yyyy kk:mm");
+        private final DateFormat dateFormat = DateUtils.getDateTimeFormat(DateFormat.MEDIUM, DateFormat.SHORT);
 
         @Override
@@ -241,5 +242,5 @@
                     userName = "<Anonymous>";
                 }
-                String toolTipText = userName + " @ " + sdf.format(note.getCreatedAt());
+                String toolTipText = userName + " @ " + dateFormat.format(note.getCreatedAt());
                 JLabel jlabel = (JLabel)comp;
                 jlabel.setText(note.getId() + ": " +text);
Index: /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/NoteReader.java
===================================================================
--- /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/NoteReader.java	(revision 8224)
+++ /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/NoteReader.java	(revision 8225)
@@ -6,10 +6,7 @@
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
-import java.text.ParseException;
-import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Locale;
 
 import javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException;
@@ -22,4 +19,5 @@
 import org.openstreetmap.josm.data.notes.NoteComment.Action;
 import org.openstreetmap.josm.data.osm.User;
+import org.openstreetmap.josm.tools.date.DateUtils;
 import org.xml.sax.Attributes;
 import org.xml.sax.InputSource;
@@ -49,7 +47,4 @@
      */
     private class Parser extends DefaultHandler {
-
-        private final SimpleDateFormat ISO8601_FORMAT = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssX", Locale.ENGLISH);
-        private final SimpleDateFormat NOTE_DATE_FORMAT = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss z", Locale.ENGLISH);
 
         private NoteParseMode parseMode;
@@ -106,7 +101,7 @@
                 } else {
                     thisNote.setState(Note.State.closed);
-                    thisNote.setClosedAt(parseDate(ISO8601_FORMAT, closedTimeStr));
-                }
-                thisNote.setCreatedAt(parseDate(ISO8601_FORMAT, attrs.getValue("created_at")));
+                    thisNote.setClosedAt(DateUtils.fromString(closedTimeStr));
+                }
+                thisNote.setCreatedAt(DateUtils.fromString(attrs.getValue("created_at")));
                 break;
             case "comment":
@@ -119,5 +114,5 @@
                 commentUsername = attrs.getValue("user");
                 noteAction = Action.valueOf(attrs.getValue("action"));
-                commentCreateDate = parseDate(ISO8601_FORMAT, attrs.getValue("timestamp"));
+                commentCreateDate = DateUtils.fromString(attrs.getValue("timestamp"));
                 String isNew = attrs.getValue("is_new");
                 if(isNew == null) {
@@ -166,11 +161,11 @@
                 break;
             case "date_created":
-                thisNote.setCreatedAt(parseDate(NOTE_DATE_FORMAT, buffer.toString()));
+                thisNote.setCreatedAt(DateUtils.fromString(buffer.toString()));
                 break;
             case "date_closed":
-                thisNote.setClosedAt(parseDate(NOTE_DATE_FORMAT, buffer.toString()));
+                thisNote.setClosedAt(DateUtils.fromString(buffer.toString()));
                 break;
             case "date":
-                commentCreateDate = parseDate(NOTE_DATE_FORMAT, buffer.toString());
+                commentCreateDate = DateUtils.fromString(buffer.toString());
                 break;
             case "user":
@@ -196,20 +191,4 @@
         public void endDocument() throws SAXException  {
             parsedNotes = notes;
-        }
-
-        /**
-         * Convenience method to handle the date parsing try/catch. Will return null if
-         * there is a parsing exception. This means whatever generated this XML is in error
-         * and there isn't anything we can do about it.
-         * @param dateStr - String to parse
-         * @return Parsed date, null if parsing fails
-         */
-        private Date parseDate(SimpleDateFormat sdf, String dateStr) {
-            try {
-                return sdf.parse(dateStr);
-            } catch(ParseException e) {
-                Main.error(e);
-                return null;
-            }
         }
     }
Index: /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/NoteWriter.java
===================================================================
--- /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/NoteWriter.java	(revision 8224)
+++ /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/NoteWriter.java	(revision 8225)
@@ -7,6 +7,5 @@
 import java.io.PrintWriter;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
-import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
-import java.util.Locale;
+import java.text.DateFormat;
 
 import org.openstreetmap.josm.data.notes.Note;
@@ -14,4 +13,5 @@
 import org.openstreetmap.josm.data.osm.NoteData;
 import org.openstreetmap.josm.data.osm.User;
+import org.openstreetmap.josm.tools.date.DateUtils;
 
 /**
@@ -23,5 +23,5 @@
 public class NoteWriter extends XmlWriter {
 
-    private final SimpleDateFormat ISO8601_FORMAT = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssX", Locale.ENGLISH);
+    private final DateFormat ISO8601_FORMAT = DateUtils.newIsoDateTimeFormat();
 
     /**