Comments on: Getting Organized and Planning Projects: Another Rich Vein of Mac OS X Software

By: Kel

Kel — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 22:14:25 +0000

I’d be interested in seeing a report on the “online GTD” apps out there. Remember the Milk, BackPack, TadaLists etc.. I’ve always wanted to “take it with me” as well as have a local copy of my lists on the computer I’m working on at the time. I see more and more that I’m never at the same machine, so the online apps are becoming very important. I’m also coupling the GTD apps with the need for a strong online calendar app. So far, I’ve been working with GoogleCalendar and Remember the Milk (RTM), as the 2 [google gadgets] are integrating nicely (other than the fact that I cant make RTM’s RSS stream feed into Google’s Reader.) via my customized Google Homepage.

By: rebel MAC » Blog Archive » Musings from Mars : Getting Organized and Planning Projects: Another Rich Vein of Mac OS X Software

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:29:59 +0000

[...] Pretty detailed report from Musings from Mars on picking a personal information management (PIM) application for Mac OS X. [...]

By: dj_in_vt

dj_in_vt — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 19:25:46 +0000

Have you seen Omnigroup’s Latest and Greatest… Omni Plan??? Check it out at:

http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniplan/

By: denny

denny — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 05:03:40 +0000

Just wanted to mention my FileMaker-based solution, Action Tracker, which I distribute as freeware/donationware. A standalone version is available that does not require FileMaker. Using it with a copy of FileMaker has the benefit of web and network sharing as well as easy customization.

Inspired by GTD, here’s a basic feature list:
-Project/task management
-Contact management
-Notes
-File attachments
-Basic iCal, QuickSilver, and Automator functionality

More info here: http://macproductive.com/actiontracker.html

By: Señor Pantalones

Señor Pantalones — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 19:25:28 +0000

please include Thinking Rock in this list. It may not be as visually pleasing as some of the others, but it deserves equal attention in this review. Oh, and it’s free.

Pros:
- Quick note entry, followed by processing and organization phases
- Sequenced actions (inactive actions become active when previous is completed)
- XML data storage, user-definable location (including iDisk or networked storage)
- Thoughtful project planning, requiring user to define goals for projects with minimal effort
- Minimal feature set and UI (also a con in some ways)
- Platform-independent (java)
- Free
- View filtering for current topic/project/context/timeframe. For example, my work “to do” view shows Topic: All, Timeframe: Up to tomorrow, and Context: Office.
- Completed tasks and projects are archived
- Tasks can be turned into more complex projects with a single click
- It’s NOT BETA, meaning you can actually trust it with your projects.
- Well-written help system and help implementation (e.g., “Current Screen Help”)

Cons:
- No integration with OS services (URLs, Address Book, Mail, events)
- UI does not remember layout adjustments, such as column width changes
- Java UI can feel clunky and slow sometimes
- Needs UI refinement — can’t do everything with keyboard (requires mousing/clicking on pulldowns), which is frustrating when trying to enter multiple tasks.
- Repeated tasks are a hack, not a feature yet (you assign a new date to a task when completed instead of marking it “done”), and they won’t appear in the “done” archives because of this.