I finally realized that I should file my data in some manner a bit more organized than simply placing it in folders. I tend to use Windows based programs although I use Linux as a secondary OS. My computing goes back all the way to Apple II and Steve Job's proprietary greed bottlenecked Apple's development just as VHS killed Sony BetaMax video back in the day. Mac never caught on with me and I'm sort of too lazy to get too far into Linux although I respect it. Mac to me is more of a "rich man's" computer rather than a hack box so I put up with the combination of Win and Linux.

I am commenting after spending several days evaluating as many as 50 different programs and possibilities for data management. I didn't bother with PIM type programs and info managers sooner because I got by with tools like Spartan Multi Clipboard -- and I kind of like PhraseExpress although I have not used it much. Finding Data can be achieved with regular search or programs like Agent Ransack or DK Finder which is really simple, really fast and free. I would also tend to store tidbits in .mht files, or just .txt files and would use Notepad2 which is super fast. Nirsoft's free SiteShoter archives complete webpages into .png files which is another little trick I have used for quite a while. Ultimately there are so many different forms of kung fu one can use when managing data. PicPick is free and a near perfect screencapture program that allows fast graphics editing so dumping tidbits into folders with keyword title names gets the job done for so many aspects of simplistic note taking. A windows program called DirectFolders offers a free personal license and allows for rapid bookmarking of directories - so you can jump from data location to location quickly if you're not using a PIM of some kind. I'm just mentioning it because it's so darn good. There is also a program called Linkman Pro that is really good for databasing browser bookmarks and it will work as a portable program.

Obviously I am new to outlining software use simply because I coped in other ways but since I went through a maelstrom of research this week I'll just report what I've learned from my own perspective. If I have to choose a single data manager program, I think Ultra Recall looks like it's the most versatile single choice. It has a ton of functions and it saves web pages and clippings quite well with a variety of ways of feeding the data into it.

MS OneNote appears to be a good choice for creative records and scrapbooking because it includes drawing and recording features. I kind of liked Treepad for a well rounded outliner, and Keypad seemed quite good considering it's back under development and completely free to use. Treepad's export to html is amazing if you need something to quickly build trees for the web. A program called Jreepad is a lite Java program that uses the Treepad format. Of all the programs, Treepad does have the some of the broadest options for importing/exporting data and it's cross-platform. As most posters here note, it's just a little bit behind and could include newer features.

I tend to think that mind mapping programs nearly take more effort to learn than they're worth but I suppose I could be wrong. The FreePlane program looked great and is free to use. I still brainstorm with paper and pen or just with lists. I think someone with scientific, logistical or other needs might require mapping software. It really depends on what you're doing.

So many of the programs are duplicates and have a variety of differing scheduling and contact management features. The program EfficientPIM seemed very well rounded and includes sticky notes and some good import/export functions. I don't really like Microsoft and refuse to use Outlook. I discovered that Mozilla Thunderbird has the new Lightening plugin that allows for basic scheduling. This means that something like Ultra Recall allows for adequate data management without worrying about contact management so much. GemX DoOrganizer looked like quite a nifty integrated package out of the bunch. A salesman might like something like that one.

I don't like the idea of storing personal notes online with something like EverNote. I'm not very mobile and if I was I think I'd try http://simplenoteapp.com/ before jailing my brain to EverNote. The login feature of EverNote and it's fee-based structure was probably the single most annoying experience of this week's marathon of testing. I try to keep things simple, inexpensive and practical if possible.

A program called Chandler is free and seems great if you want to schedule a lot of events and contacts in concert with other people but it's not something I really need right now. There is a program called InfoLevin that seemed somewhat promising and well done if it gets off the ground. It was one of the more obscure titles so I'm mentioning it here. A program called PerfectNotes was unique because it appears to record audio lectures and allow notes to be added on a timeline. All things considered I thought there would be a lot more educational software by now but maybe pen and paper or laptop text notes are still popular in University.

All of these programs are really quite fascinating and there are too many to mention but the Ultra Recall does seem to be the most all-inclusive of the bunch. I think if I was stuck with one choice only it would adapt to most operations at least for data storage. It wouldn't calculate like a spreadsheet or database but I was quite impressed. I really like OneNote, but I suspect I won't end up using it simply because it's kind of bloated. The "tree" method of data storage seems to be the most practical and all things considered that's what I've always used via the OS file manager functions.

Ultra Recall had gone on sale a few months ago as reported on this forum at a site called bitsdujour.com. There are good programs like Surfulater, Webresearch, MyInfo and MyBase, WinPIM and such but out of all of this chaos I have a suspicion I might go with Ultra Recall and keep using Thunderbird/Lightening for email, contacts and schedules. The various freeware tools and utilities available help process data storage and I suspect I might steer clear of OneNote. It's really advanced but I suspect in a practical sense it might not be rapid enough for daily use. As a mention, Corel Office suite has a very simple program called Wordperfect Lightning for notes that seemed practical but is probably way too bare bones for most people. CintaNotes or FlashNote might come in handy for some people although Ultra Recall covers the basic import clipping functions of those programs as well.

So I liked a lot of programs and didn't like others. There certainly is a variety of functions and uses depending on what you're doing. Once again, out of all the programs I think that EverNote is the biggest "death trap" for data. Sure, you can upload it and preserve it but who the heck is going to be raking through your entire life? We're talking about notes, contacts and personal data. I don't think I could ever trust that program or settle for it's insistence that you set up an account in order to use it.

I thought that some of the software was priced a bit too high and someone offering better pricing might really attract a following - but that's not my business. I'm not trying to be biased about Ultra Recall but it does appear to be the one program with the largest overall variety of features. There was a strange program called StudyBuddy for Windows that would display "cue cards" for students but it didn't seem to qualify as a data manager. A program called ZuluPad has to be one of the more annoying of the trials as it's free version wouldn't even print unless you upgrade to the Pro version. A program called AllMyNotes was well laid out but had a very washed color scheme. Zoot had the most obnoxious color scheme I saw. I even tried XLNotes which is a free-form add-on for Microsoft Excel. That allows for the storage of any 'junk' you want to cram into an Excel spreadsheet.

I went through everything I had time for except some of the bizarro research software and ultimately I learned that it's about databasing. It's all just databasing with a different front-end and every computer user already does the basics with the OS file manager/finder of choice. There are just so many different options and I suspect that in a decade things will be a lot smoother and better integrated especially in regard to OLE object linking and embedding functions. It's probably too early to fuss too much about mobile data storage and I certainly don't need it yet. It's not exactly a private world anymore but uploading ALL one's data to online accounts seems to be pretty brainless if you ask me. Anyway, that's my two cents.

Zoot had the most obnoxious color scheme I saw.

Default black background scheme can be changed, Zoot comes with a number of themes you can select from.

You've done a lot of searching. UltraRecall is good.

I prefer MyInfo because it is easier to use for what I want.

And it has one feature coming up which makes it a must-use program for me: Petko, the developer, has promised the next version will have the ability to open more than one window at a time. That means, as a writer, I can look at a couple of open windows of information, and work on a draft article in yet another window. EverNote also has this ability, but MyInfo offers me metadata columns, and a combination of a folder structure and tags. I use EverNote and Surfulater for web clipping - and once Surfulater has a cloud capability, will shift over to it exclusively because - again - it offers combination of folder structure and tags. As well, Surfulater has a very neat way of searching for items with more than one tag.

Please keep us posted on your explorations, and how you make out with UR.

Daly

TJohn wrote:

I finally realized that I should file my data in some manner a bit more organized than
simply placing it in folders. I tend to use Windows based programs although I use Linux
as a secondary OS. My computing goes back all the way to Apple II and Steve Job's
proprietary greed bottlenecked Apple's development just as VHS killed Sony BetaMax
video back in the day. Mac never caught on with me and I'm sort of too lazy to get too far
into Linux although I respect it. Mac to me is more of a "rich man's" computer rather
than a hack box so I put up with the combination of Win and Linux.

I am commenting after
spending several days evaluating as many as 50 different programs and possibilities
for data management. I didn't bother with PIM type programs and info managers sooner
because I got by with tools like Spartan Multi Clipboard -- and I kind of like
PhraseExpress although I have not used it much. Finding Data can be achieved with
regular search or programs like Agent Ransack or DK Finder which is really simple,
really fast and free. I would also tend to store tidbits in .mht files, or just .txt
files and would use Notepad2 which is super fast. Nirsoft's free SiteShoter archives
complete webpages into .png files which is another little trick I have used for quite a
while. Ultimately there are so many different forms of kung fu one can use when
managing data. PicPick is free and a near perfect screencapture program that allows
fast graphics editing so dumping tidbits into folders with keyword title names gets
the job done for so many aspects of simplistic note taking. A windows program called
DirectFolders offers a free personal license and allows for rapid bookmarking of
directories - so you can jump from data location to location quickly if you're not
using a PIM of some kind. I'm just mentioning it because it's so darn good. There is also
a program called Linkman Pro that is really good for databasing browser bookmarks and
it will work as a portable program.

Obviously I am new to outlining software use
simply because I coped in other ways but since I went through a maelstrom of research
this week I'll just report what I've learned from my own perspective. If I have to
choose a single data manager program, I think Ultra Recall looks like it's the most
versatile single choice. It has a ton of functions and it saves web pages and clippings
quite well with a variety of ways of feeding the data into it.

MS OneNote appears to be
a good choice for creative records and scrapbooking because it includes drawing and
recording features. I kind of liked Treepad for a well rounded outliner, and Keypad
seemed quite good considering it's back under development and completely free to
use. Treepad's export to html is amazing if you need something to quickly build trees
for the web. A program called Jreepad is a lite Java program that uses the Treepad
format. Of all the programs, Treepad does have the some of the broadest options for
importing/exporting data and it's cross-platform. As most posters here note, it's
just a little bit behind and could include newer features.

I tend to think that mind
mapping programs nearly take more effort to learn than they're worth but I suppose I
could be wrong. The FreePlane program looked great and is free to use. I still
brainstorm with paper and pen or just with lists. I think someone with scientific,
logistical or other needs might require mapping software. It really depends on what
you're doing.

So many of the programs are duplicates and have a variety of differing
scheduling and contact management features. The program EfficientPIM seemed very
well rounded and includes sticky notes and some good import/export functions. I
don't really like Microsoft and refuse to use Outlook. I discovered that Mozilla
Thunderbird has the new Lightening plugin that allows for basic scheduling. This
means that something like Ultra Recall allows for adequate data management without
worrying about contact management so much. GemX DoOrganizer looked like quite a
nifty integrated package out of the bunch. A salesman might like something like that
one.

I don't like the idea of storing personal notes online with something like
EverNote. I'm not very mobile and if I was I think I'd try http://simplenoteapp.com/
before jailing my brain to EverNote. The login feature of EverNote and it's fee-based
structure was probably the single most annoying experience of this week's marathon
of testing. I try to keep things simple, inexpensive and practical if possible.

A
program called Chandler is free and seems great if you want to schedule a lot of events
and contacts in concert with other people but it's not something I really need right
now. There is a program called InfoLevin that seemed somewhat promising and well done
if it gets off the ground. It was one of the more obscure titles so I'm mentioning it
here. A program called PerfectNotes was unique because it appears to record audio
lectures and allow notes to be added on a timeline. All things considered I thought
there would be a lot more educational software by now but maybe pen and paper or laptop
text notes are still popular in University.

All of these programs are really quite
fascinating and there are too many to mention but the Ultra Recall does seem to be the
most all-inclusive of the bunch. I think if I was stuck with one choice only it would
adapt to most operations at least for data storage. It wouldn't calculate like a
spreadsheet or database but I was quite impressed. I really like OneNote, but I
suspect I won't end up using it simply because it's kind of bloated. The "tree" method
of data storage seems to be the most practical and all things considered that's what
I've always used via the OS file manager functions.

Ultra Recall had gone on sale a
few months ago as reported on this forum at a site called bitsdujour.com. There are
good programs like Surfulater, Webresearch, MyInfo and MyBase, WinPIM and such but
out of all of this chaos I have a suspicion I might go with Ultra Recall and keep using
Thunderbird/Lightening for email, contacts and schedules. The various freeware
tools and utilities available help process data storage and I suspect I might steer
clear of OneNote. It's really advanced but I suspect in a practical sense it might not
be rapid enough for daily use. As a mention, Corel Office suite has a very simple
program called Wordperfect Lightning for notes that seemed practical but is
probably way too bare bones for most people. CintaNotes or FlashNote might come in
handy for some people although Ultra Recall covers the basic import clipping
functions of those programs as well.

So I liked a lot of programs and didn't like
others. There certainly is a variety of functions and uses depending on what you're
doing. Once again, out of all the programs I think that EverNote is the biggest "death
trap" for data. Sure, you can upload it and preserve it but who the heck is going to be
raking through your entire life? We're talking about notes, contacts and personal
data. I don't think I could ever trust that program or settle for it's insistence that
you set up an account in order to use it.

I thought that some of the software was priced
a bit too high and someone offering better pricing might really attract a following -
but that's not my business. I'm not trying to be biased about Ultra Recall but it does
appear to be the one program with the largest overall variety of features. There was a
strange program called StudyBuddy for Windows that would display "cue cards" for
students but it didn't seem to qualify as a data manager. A program called ZuluPad has
to be one of the more annoying of the trials as it's free version wouldn't even print
unless you upgrade to the Pro version. A program called AllMyNotes was well laid out
but had a very washed color scheme. Zoot had the most obnoxious color scheme I saw. I
even tried XLNotes which is a free-form add-on for Microsoft Excel. That allows for
the storage of any 'junk' you want to cram into an Excel spreadsheet.

I went through
everything I had time for except some of the bizarro research software and ultimately
I learned that it's about databasing. It's all just databasing with a different
front-end and every computer user already does the basics with the OS file
manager/finder of choice. There are just so many different options and I suspect that
in a decade things will be a lot smoother and better integrated especially in regard to
OLE object linking and embedding functions. It's probably too early to fuss too much
about mobile data storage and I certainly don't need it yet. It's not exactly a private
world anymore but uploading ALL one's data to online accounts seems to be pretty
brainless if you ask me. Anyway, that's my two cents.

Ultra Recall, if I'm not mistaken, displays detail or notes for only one item at a time. That's limiting for someone who wants to work on one note while referencing others.

That's a major advantage of a single-pane outliner, of a "tape view" (CintaNotes), of a paragraph-friendly mind map (Freeplane), of a multi-grid view (InfoQube), or of a two-pane with pinnable floating detail windows (myBase, Ariadne).

Jerome

JJSlote wrote:

Ultra Recall, if I'm not mistaken, displays detail or notes for only one item at a time.

...as Daly noted seconds earlier.

Since you're relatively comfortable with Linux, you should *definitely* check out org-mode:
http://orgmode.org/

It runs within Emacs, so you can use the same program and data files on both your Windows and Linux computers. It is also very, very feature-rich -- probably the most-full-featured PIM that focuses on note-taking, writing, projects, and scheduling (as opposed to managing large numbers of binary files or wikis, where some other products have the edge). There is no data lock in because your files are ultimately plain-text, but it does support images and file attachments. Unlike OneNote, file attachments remain accessible in their original format without export and are searchable via the filesystem.

The downside is a tremendous learning curve, but the manual is excellent.

-- Chris

PersonalBrain is another option for those who like using the file system to organize their information, but want to also be able to create relationships among those data beyond the hierarchy, while also adding meta data, such as tags and annotations.

You can bring in your entire folder structure or just files relating to a specific project.

I imagine you can do this in UR, and I'm certain Zoot can do it. But those programs merely replicate the hierarchy. PB on the other hand allows you to define relationships visually and fluidly, so you can create necessary structure on a per project basis.

I'm not suggesting this way is better than any other way, but I am finding it very handy. And it provides a new view of your data even if you prefer to rely primarily on the file system.

Steve

Ultra Recall, if I?m not mistaken, displays detail or notes for only one item at a time.

not ideal (as one still can't view notes side by side) alternative is that UR allows you to open notes in multiple tabs which you can navigate through keyboard (Ctrl+tab)

TJohn,

If everyone's 2 cents were like yours, this would be wikipedia :-) I am impressed.

Thanks for the heads up to various interesting applications I had never heard of. Here's a couple more contributions:

Of all the programs, Treepad does have the some of the broadest options for
importing/exporting data and it's cross-platform. As most posters here note, it's
just a little bit behind and could include newer features.

The Treepad Linux version (Lite only) has been developed long ago and is apparently not compatible with contemporary Linux distributions; see http://www.treepad.com/linux/treepadlite/ The developer recommends using Wine to run the Windows versions.

As Linux is also my second OS, I have found Notecase Pro an excellent cross-platform outliner that is continuously developed: http://www.virtual-sky.com/index.php

Also, I would suggest that you try out the very clever TreeSheets http://www.treesheets.com/ what I would call a 2.5-dimensional outliner.

A program called PerfectNotes was unique because it appears to record audio
lectures and allow notes to be added on a timeline.

This is great. Personally, I have been trying out Livescribe http://www.livescribe.com to similar effect, as I find using pen and paper much easier than typing when listening to people.


Last but not least, I recommend the brilliant Simidude, a cross-platform shared clipboard that can work wonders when using PCs with different OS's in a network http://www.agynamix.de/products/simidude/

TJohn wrote:

I might steer clear of OneNote. It?s really advanced but I suspect in a practical sense it might not be rapid enough for daily use.

What does "not rapid enough" mean specifically?

OneNote is the cornerstone of my digital productivity life. I utilize to such a degree that it is almost an axillary operating system.
I have never thought of it as not being rapid. I am just curious what aspect of its functioning is getting in your way.



JasonE

Ultra Recall's roadmap, which it has followed very closely, recently added:

"Open multiple items in separate windows"

http://www.kinook.com/Forum/showthread.php?s=bc9fd9f5d361f41d3f5010219ee6ef6b&threadid=3204

Did UR indicate in any way when the ability to open items in multiple windows might be implemented?

Thanks.

Day

No, but they do follow the roadmap pretty closely. We can get some clues from the version history they publish on their website at

http://www.kinook.com/Forum/forumdisplay.php?s=eff81663329fd83cca55ed63d6b04957&forumid=27

Just for fun I took that and calculated the number of days between each major version. This could be somewhat misleading because UR has introduced major new features with smaller changes to the version number.

Apologies for the bad formatting that is sure to result from this since I don't think this site will take HTML:

Version Date released Days from previous major version
Version 4.2 8/10/2010 300
Version 4.1 10/14/2009 72
Version 4.0 8/3/2009 432
Version 3.5 5/28/2008 295
Version 3.2 8/7/2007 95
Version 3.1 5/4/2007 60
Version 3.0 3/5/2007 287
Version 2.0 5/22/2006 143
Version 1.4 12/30/2005 211
Version 1.3 6/2/2005 120
Version 1.2 2/2/2005 13
Version 1.1 1/20/2005 64
Version 1.0 11/17/2004

I didn't test it but opening multiple items in separate windows shall be possible with UR, via external editor.
Test with Word, or whatever editor you have setup as default for .rtf extension: double-click any text item in UR and it will open in the editor, double-click another and it shall open in a new window.
Internal multiple windows will still be more comfortable of course.