Need some application advice

DEVONthink Tips
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This has nothing to do with DT Pro, but given that I love this app I figured I’d post this here since most of us here are probably enthusiastic users of this app and have at least that much in common.

I need something to organize my tasks. I hate calling it a ‘to do list’, but it’s along those lines. I need something more sophisticated and powerful than iCal. I tried using Daylite, it’s a powerful app, probably too powerful for my needs. It’s really designed for organizations. I find myself not using it because it’s just too complex.

I need something to help me manage the tasks I give myself, and hopefully something that I can adapt to my general work flow (which I won’t bore you with here). I’m currently demoing an app called Process by Jumsoft and it might work, although after using it for 20 minutes I already had about 5 enhancement requests. That’s usually not a good sign. I’ve also heard the developer of that app isn’t particularly responsive, which is another bad sign.

I looked at a few others, like EasyTask, Frictionless, and a few others I’m not remembering and they didn’t fit the bill. One thing I like about Process is the ability to attach other documents/items, like pictures, PDFs, weblinks, address book contacts, to individual tasks.

Just wondering if anyone out there has an app in this category that they use and are happy with.

Thanks

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Take a look at Funkware, which makes a product called Task List. It’s aimed at students but you can modify the interface considerably.

It synchs with Mail, iCal, and AddressBook. For me the main drawback was that it doesn’t import tasks from other sources, such as Entourage.

Another interesting product is Googalyzer, which pulls together URLs for research uses.

Best of all, both are open-source and FREE.

Home Page: idisk.mac.com/gonfunko/Public/index.html

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Another two apps you might want to take a look at are:

Thinkingrock (free, cross-platform)

Mori with a freeware plugin called mGTD which can be found here:
hogbaysoftware.com/node/1385

Maybe one of these suits your needs.

Prion

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thanks for the recommendations. I’ll check them out.

One note, while free is good, I’m willing to pay for a quality app that can fill this need for me. Sometimes people complain about the cost of software, but shoot, something that allows me to be efficient, allows me to better get done with what I need to get done, I’ll pay good money for that if it’s the right product.

So don’t allow cost to filter any potential recommendations. Right now I don’t care about cost, I’m just trying to find something that works, or better put, will help me work more efficiently.

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I think that the next version of Apple Mail is going to include task list functionality? Perhaps you could get by for now with a free one and then look at Mail when Leopard is released.

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wasn’t aware Mail would have such functionality, but if it’s embedded in Mail, I’m guessing it’s not going to be robust enough to satisfy my requirements. But you never know until you know.

The other things is even if it does, I’d hate to always have Mail open. I use PowerMail for email, would be having Mail open just to use one subset of its functionality. Hopefully they do it right.

I can’t believe Apple hasn’t released a standalone app ala Address Book, Mail or iCal or iTunes to handle this type of requirement. I think it would be huge.

I’m really hoping that when OmniGroup finally gets OmniFocus in place that will do the trick. I love their software.

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Maybe you want to have a look at Circus Ponies NoteBook?

circusponies.com/

Nice piece of software, I used it for my tasks, but realized, that iCal is good enough for my purposes. (I’m still using NoteBook for outlining)

Ursula

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I own and use Notebook, and love it. I think it’s an app that complements DT Pro well. And while I know there are people who use it as a project/task manager, I think even with the 2.0 mods that it is poorly suited to the job.

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