Version 3 has been released for maybe a couple of weeks - http://www.gemx.com/doorganizer.php - I've owned it since version 1 when it was conceptually promising but terribly implemented and poorly supported. Well things are 180% different now - phenomenal functionality and fabulous user interface if you like that kind of thing... Extremely active forum http://www.gemx.com/forum/index.php?board=2.0 - with the developers totally engaged...

About a year ago I had hoped that Omea Pro was going to be my central email/tasks/files/notes/etc organizer - but 1) the user interface was never good even though the functionality was relatively comprehensive, 2) its development died about 6 months ago...

Anyway - like many of you, I've purchased, experimented with, got frustrated by almost every PIM there is... But do-O has taken itself to center stage.... quite exciting actually...

Ian, thanks for the info.

I am glad gemx is appearing to be more customer-responsive; for a long time they came across as very aloof, almost arrogant. I think part of it may have been they were trying to do too much with a small staff.

Their outliner was good at one point, but like other outliners, seemed to get left behind when the emphasis seemed to shift to more of an information processing focus.

It will be interesting to see how the organizer has evolved.

Cheers,

Daly

Ian Goldsmid wrote:

Version 3 has been released for maybe a couple of weeks -
http://www.gemx.com/doorganizer.php - I've owned it since version 1 when it was
conceptually promising but terribly implemented and poorly supported. Well things
are 180% different now - phenomenal functionality and fabulous user interface if you
like that kind of thing... Extremely active forum
http://www.gemx.com/forum/index.php?board=2.0 - with the developers totally
engaged...

About a year ago I had hoped that Omea Pro was going to be my central
email/tasks/files/notes/etc organizer - but 1) the user interface was never good
even though the functionality was relatively comprehensive, 2) its development
died about 6 months ago...

Anyway - like many of you, I've purchased, experimented
with, got frustrated by almost every PIM there is... But do-O has taken itself to
center stage.... quite exciting actually...

I took a quick look at the web site. What struck me looking at the range of features is whether doorganizer is targetting InfoSelect.

I am definitely going to download it.

Daly

Ian Goldsmid wrote:

Version 3 has been released for maybe a couple of weeks -
http://www.gemx.com/doorganizer.php - I've owned it since version 1 when it was
conceptually promising but terribly implemented and poorly supported. Well things
are 180% different now - phenomenal functionality and fabulous user interface if you
like that kind of thing... Extremely active forum
http://www.gemx.com/forum/index.php?board=2.0 - with the developers totally
engaged...

About a year ago I had hoped that Omea Pro was going to be my central
email/tasks/files/notes/etc organizer - but 1) the user interface was never good
even though the functionality was relatively comprehensive, 2) its development
died about 6 months ago...

Anyway - like many of you, I've purchased, experimented
with, got frustrated by almost every PIM there is... But do-O has taken itself to
center stage.... quite exciting actually...

Two things I like without having yet tried the program: First is the 60-day trial. Second is the modular pricing. Does anyone else do that? I think it is excellent.

In a CRIMP moment I purchased TexNotes Pro some time ago. I have to say that while it is "feature rich" it is one of the most unwieldy, unergonomic programs I have ever used, which is to say I have hardly used it at all.

Francis Morrone wrote:

I purchased TexNotes Pro some time ago. I have to say that while it is
"feature rich" it is one of the most unwieldy, unergonomic programs I have ever used

Wow. Less than HALF the screen real estate is devoted to your notes .

(That was supposed to include the URL http://www.gemx.com/tour.php?prod=texnotespro&page=1 which showed a screen overpowered by UI gadgets.)

TexNote belongs in a subcategory of outliner/PIM I would call an Information Packager. That is, it's strength is packaging information so it looks good. Another PIM I'd put in this category is TreeDB. What these programs do well (or try to do well), is give you the tools to make your information attractive. They've got great text formatting, with tables available and other advanced options. The tree/outline can be customized with icons and in other ways. They contained powerful hyperlinking between notes, even before other programs started adopting this feature.

But they don't generally make information management a high priority, and consequently, in my opinion, are not well-rounded, useful PIMs. Francis pointed out about TexNotes, they are generally un-ergonomic and cumbersome. This isn't to say a program can't do a good job at both packaging information and managing it, but I have yet to see it. Perhaps the closest is MyBase, though I haven't tried the new version.

Steve Z.

David Dunham wrote:

Francis Morrone wrote:
>I purchased TexNotes Pro some time ago. I have to say that
while it is
>"feature rich" it is one of the most unwieldy, unergonomic programs I
have ever used

Wow. Less than HALF the screen real estate is devoted to your notes
.

Ian,

Do you use the email capabilities of do-O? I have been experimenting with it and am a little unsure about the email. Probably because I am used to InfoSelect's unusual (but powerful) way of handling email.

If you use it, do you find the email reliable? I am now trying to ensure that everything comes through alright and that they get put into the correct folders. So fare I have about 35 different rules and it is tough to see if everything has synced.

Also, how do you find the outlining capabilities? I have been entering information into the Scribe, and can really make things look nice. But I am still unsure if it has the power I am looking for.

Any information would help.

Thanks,
Vince

Ian Goldsmid wrote:

Anyway - like many of you, I've purchased, experimented
with, got frustrated by almost every PIM there is... But do-O has taken itself to
center stage.... quite exciting actually...

After a period of intense testing of do-O regrettably I came to the conclusion as per one of the comments Stephen Zeoli made: "But they don’t generally make information management a high priority".

Ian,

I am sorry to hear that. I am just starting my testing now and I may come to the same conclusion you have. But even if I do, I will keep them on my radar because of the active development and excitement of the users.

I will report back in a few weeks.
Vince

Ian Goldsmid wrote:

After a period of intense testing of do-O regrettably I came to the conclusion as per
one of the comments Stephen Zeoli made: "But they don’t generally make information
management a high priority".

I'm user of DO3. The mailer is very basic, and the outliner part too (though they promised to move many of their standalone notetaking programs features into it soon).

What persuaded me is the interlinking capability between all the modules.

Francis Morrone wrote:

Two things I like without having yet tried the program: First is the 60-day trial.
Second is the modular pricing. Does anyone else do that? I think it is excellent.

In a
CRIMP moment I purchased TexNotes Pro some time ago. I have to say that while it is
"feature rich" it is one of the most unwieldy, unergonomic programs I have ever used,
which is to say I have hardly used it at all.

This is very interesting to read. When I first looked at a Texnotes screenshot, all I could think was that it had the most cluttered, garish UI of any information organizer I'd ever encountered. Reminded me of the children's board game "Candyland," if you're familiar with that.

So, with the CRIMP passion overtaking me (and I perfectly understand that term) I downloaded the trial version and set to work closing windows and streamlining toolbars just to see whether a useful program might be hidden under all that tinsel. After about an hour I grew weary, and decided the heck with it.

As this is a delurk post, I want to say how pleased I am to find this forum. The archived messages contain a wealth of useful information, and candid commentary. My own background... I started out in the CP/M era very happily using an outliner called Out-Think (a slimmed-down version of KAMAS), then switched to the DOS version of KAMAS. For a long time, starting in the mid-90s, I relied on AskSam and ECCO as my workhorse tools, but eventually grew disenchanted with AskSam.

These days I still run my life using ECCO; I also use it to maintain a large personal research database that is still growing. I cannot imagine ever dispensing with ECCO entirely. However, in the last year or two, I've supplemented it with NoteMap (for writing) and MyInfo (for general information management). I'm really pleased with MyInfo so far, and I continue to find new uses for it.

Nonetheless, I'll probably keep on trying out new programs, hoping that some day I'll find that one perfect Holy Grail of a single "do-everything perfectly" info manager.

And finally, I've lost track of the number of times I've installed a trial copy of ZOOT, fiddled with it at length, then walked away saying, "I MUST be missing something here."

1. Bob, if you haven't seen previous postings on NoteMap, you may find them interesting.

2. I emailed Gemx asking if either of its programs could import Web pages. No answer.

-c

Bob Mackreth wrote:

And finally, I've lost track of the
number of times I've installed a trial copy of ZOOT, fiddled with it at length, then
walked away saying, "I MUST be missing something here."

Bob,

Glad you decided to post. I find it facinating how "personal" are our relationships with Personal Information Managers. I love Zoot. I loved ECCO too, but stopped using it when development ended... which, coincidentally was about when I discovered Zoot.

Steve Z.

Bob,

You wrote:

"And finally, I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve installed a trial copy of ZOOT, fiddled with it at length, then walked away saying, “I MUST be missing something here.” "

I did exactly the same experience!
Even have decided against Zoot I still believe it is one of the best PIMs (or whatever) tools available today.

Dominik

First, thank you all for the welcome, and thanks, Cassius, for the tip about Notemap info. I'll check it out.

About ZOOT... I'm still keeping the door open. ZOOT users rave about the program so enthusiastically I keep thinking, "Maybe if I try harder to absorb the concepts, I'll find it works for me." (Hey... who am I to argue with James Fallows? He writes ten times better than I ever will.)

On the other hand, I have found by long experience that the "structured outline with strong cross-referencing" model exemplified by ECCO, and developing nicely in MyInfo, fits my style of working very well.... so why change?

In any event, at this point I am definitely going to wait and see if "The Admiral" ever comes out with a 32-bit version, or whether development just finally fizzles out. Having kissed goodbye to some beloved programs from CP/M and DOS days, and after enduring the long, sad ECCO saga, I do not want to enter into another software relationship that may end up in heartbreak. ;)

All of which underscores exactly what Stephen wrote: some of us develop intensely personal relationships with the programs we use to manage our lives, store the information we need, and organize it all in _just_ the way we want it. Guess that's why so many of us keep looking for the perfect PIM partner.