Since I am new to the board, I will provide a list of my current tools as a form of confession. My name is Chris and I am addicted to information tools. :) (Is that how you start your introductions?)

Here is my Windows toolbox (Work):

- OneNote (structured research for projects/papers. Better organization, note-taking, highlighting, combiling)
- Evernote (general information capture)
- PersonalBrain (long-term information store. Shows connection between areas of focus. Thoughts link to pages in OneNote or Evernote)
- MindManager (dashboards for planning and 30,000 to 50,000 related tasks)
- Microsoft Word (like it or not, most of my writing must end up in Word format, which is the standardized format in most sectors)
- TaskAngel / Toodledo for list management and GTD implementation
- GoToDo app on Android mobile phone syncs with Toodledo

- I will add The Journal to this list. I have played with the trial version the last few weeks, and this will become my writing tool. Prior to this, I have used Microsoft Word.


Here is my Mac OS toolbox (Home):

- Evernote (sync with my Windows data)
- PersonalBrain - (syncs with my Windows brain via SugarSync)
- OmniOutliner (the best outliner I have used without question. If only it was available for Windows!)
- Scrivener (this is where my search for a Windows replacement for Word started. I love Scrivener and would pay any price to have access to its features on both Mac and Windows. The Journal is my Scrivener counterpart in Windows, but to be honest, it's not even close.)
- Toodledo via the web interface.

What's missing from my Mac OS perfect world? OneNote. I love OneNote.


So, if we can engage in some fantasy right now, here is my "perfect" toolbox if all of the applications in the world were cross platform:

OneNote
MindManager
PersonalBrain
OmniOutliner
Scrivener
OmniFocus (synching with Toodledo)

Chris Eller

Chris Eller wrote:

What's missing from my Mac OS perfect world? OneNote. I love
OneNote.

There are a number of different OneNote-like applications out there. Circus Ponies Notebook was the best of the bunch that I tried.

http://www.circusponies.com/

Cheers,
Tom S.

Welcome, Chris. That's a very good way to introduce yourself here.

I would also suggest, if you haven't already done so, that you check out Curio for Mac OS. I think Curio is a little closer to OneNote than CircusPonies Notebook, though neither is an exact fit. Curio has the benefit of being able to incorporate Evernote notes.

Curio is available here: http://www.zengobi.com/

BTW, I've been using the new WebBrain sync function in the beta releases of PersonalBrain 6 and find it works really well. Right now it is free. I don't know what the cost will end up being.

Steve

I've been PIMming for over 20 years and have found that having a plethora of applications in which I store data (that I may want some time years from now) can become a nightmare. So now I'm down to two + one to store quick notes. And, I may drop that one.

-c

I guess I lied... I actually use myBase mostly, Jot+ mainly for old info, GrandView for passwords & program installation keys (and old,old stuff on CDs) and Inspiration for a very specific type of info.

-c

Chris,

You are very effusive about OmniOutliner. I wondered what aspects of this app really stand out for you?

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

Welcome, Chris. That's a very good way to introduce yourself here.

I would also
suggest, if you haven't already done so, that you check out Curio for Mac OS. I think
Curio is a little closer to OneNote than CircusPonies Notebook, though neither is an
exact fit. Curio has the benefit of being able to incorporate Evernote notes.

Curio
is available here: http://www.zengobi.com/

I might argue that Curio is a little farther away from the ON notebook paradigm, but I won't. I think we all see different things in these applications.

I thought Curio was really interesting. Many, many features. My problem with it was that I kept running into bugs when I tried it. It could be that I was just using the wrong features through bad luck. But I kind of got the impression that the developer was adding features almost as they occurred to him rather than thoughtfully building the program slowly from the ground up. It's a common trap in my experience.

I admit that I could be way, way off on this. The program is certainly worth a try.

Like you, I strongly recommend PersonalBrain. Wonderful, cross-platform program. Solid as a rock. The only disadvantage here would be that it's less likely to take advantage of the Mac's native features.

Tom S.

Tom S. wrote:

I might argue that Curio is a little farther away from the
ON notebook paradigm, but I won't. I think we all see different things in these
applications.

I thought Curio was really interesting. Many, many features. My
problem with it was that I kept running into bugs when I tried it. It could be that I was
just using the wrong features through bad luck. But I kind of got the impression that
the developer was adding features almost as they occurred to him rather than
thoughtfully building the program slowly from the ground up. It's a common trap in my
experience.

I admit that I could be way, way off on this. The program is certainly
worth a try.

Like you, I strongly recommend PersonalBrain. Wonderful,
cross-platform program. Solid as a rock. The only disadvantage here would be that
it's less likely to take advantage of the Mac's native features.

Hi, Tom,

I should have been clearer when I was making the comparison between Curio and OneNote. The reason I think Curio is a closer match to OneNote than Notebook is that you can paste pretty much anything onto the pages of Curio, much as you can with ON. Notebook has some of that capability, but I don't find it quite as versatile as Curio. No question that Notebook carries the notebook metaphor farther than Curio, farther even than ON. They are both very capable programs.

I haven't had the bug issues with Curio you mention, but certainly do not dispute your experience. Curio had been developed at a pretty breakneck pace... one that seems to have slowed down a little of late.

Steve

Hi Chris and welcome :-)



Very interesting post; "cross-platform" has been in my mind for sometime, though in my case I work between Windows and Linux so my list would be somewhat different. Also, web and/or mobile access is becoming more and more important for me. In this regard, iPhone/Mac users are really spoilt and Android users are getting there soon!



My contributions:



- I came across Simplenotes http://simplenoteapp.com an iPhone / iPod touch / iPad application that looks like a very light version of Evernote. Information can be synced and accessed via the web, and third party developers have provided several offline desktop apps (mosly for Mac) and other goodies http://simplenoteapp.com/extras including a nice client for Windows http://www.resoph.com/ResophNotes/Welcome.html I think it is ideal for people that only want text notes, especially on netbooks, because the Evernote client is really heavy.



- Zimbra Desktop http://www.zimbra.com/products/desktop.html looks like a capable replacement for Outlook in Windows, Mac and Linux; I'm only just trying it out though.



- Notecase Pro http://www.virtual-sky.com/index.php is my favourite cross-platform 'classic' outliner



- Treesheets http://www.treesheets.com/
is my new favourite bird's eye view 3-D notebook


- Simidude http://www.agynamix.de/products/simidude/ is
an excellent cross-platform clipboard; I don't know what I'd do without it



- Mindmanager versions exist for Windows and Mac but not Linux; an alternative is Xmind http://www.xmind.net/ but I don't like their subscription oriented pricing for the Pro version.

- Last but not least, I concur with the positive words on Personal Brain; I also believe that the web version and syncing will eventually become a very important feature

notreadbyhumans wrote:

Chris,

You are very effusive about OmniOutliner. I wondered what aspects of this
app really stand out for you?

I find OmniOutliner to be a very flexible application. When all I need is a simple outliner, it performs beautifully; when I need something much more complex with columns, mixed media, etc. it performs beautifully.

Too many of the applications I've played with seem to ultimately trend towards overly complex (everything but the kitchen sink). The think I like about OmniOutliner is that it has a lot of capabilities, but it does not clutter the interface with seldom used features.

Again, I am new to Mac OS and I am finding this to be true about many Mac apps.

CE