I was reading through Steve Z's blog this morning, and a thought struck me ...

What is the absolute one piece of software you have to have?
I would ask only that you limit to one (well, one Windows and one Mac *L*)

I'm looking for outline/organizing/productivity software, as an antidote to CRIMP (I know, what fun is that!)
I suspect many are like me, and haven't found the perfect piece of software, but I'd love to hear what you feel the number one tool you have is.

It's an impossible question because the answer depends on the type and stage of the project that I happen to be working on. But on the PC I've been sticking with Natara Bonsai for quite a few years now for essential outlining. In the Mac world, I use CarbonFin Outliner on the iPad and iPod (which export to Natara Bonsai).

Like many people here, I have spent way too much time looking for the magic bullet, a program which will collect, outline and organise all my data and thoughts, removing the need for other software. A fool's game, to be sure.

Yet to answer your question, the one piece of software I now regard as essential is a humble clipboard manager, Clipcache Pro (http://www.xrayz.co.uk/clipcache/

For years I have been throwing data into Clipcache while waiting for other, more powerful programs to come along. In all that time, the Clipcache (Sqlite) database proved to be reliable. Searches of my many years of clippings are quick. It uses a folder structure, so allowing crude organisation of data. It is the first place I look for any bits of information I know I must have squirelled away at some time. Development has slowed to a crawl, but the program is stable.

Meanwhile, countless more powerful and far more expensive programs sit on my computer, unused and unloved.

JohnK ... thanks, both for offering the opinion, and for sharing that it is not an outliner/organizer. It doesn't surprise me at all, hearing what you have to say.

Dr. Andus, I agree its impossible as I framed it, but that is what got me thinking. (And thank you too, for sharing).

Steve wrote comparing Personal Brain to Tinderbox (I don't use either) ... and it got me thinking what I find I can't live without. The closest I've found for me as an outliner is Inspiration, but I could do without it. Notepad++ is my pic - a simple text editor! I keep toying with the idea of converting everything to txt file and being done with the quest for the holy outliner (movie rights to follow).

This is a very interesting question, but one that I find difficult to answer. The truth is, none of the programs I use is "essential" because there is so much redundancy among them.* The ones, however, that I would least want to do without could be Zoot (on my office PC) and Tinderbox (on my MacBook). Zoot remains my information dumping ground. It's so easy to drop information into Zoot and organize it later. It can handle light-weight database tasks too (if I could print mailing labels from Zoot, it would be even better). I use a combination of PersonalBrain and OneNote for managing most of my projects, but I could, if need be, use Zoot for that -- in fact, it could handle that pretty well, I think.

With Tinderbox, I could handle any number of information management/writing tasks. Still, I would hate to surrender Scrivener.

Steve Z.

*I'm referring specifically to that generalized category we call information managers. Some specific applications, such as QuickBooks, are essential for my job.

Two alternative answers, depending on the viewpoint. I don't consider this cheating because I have a double role (I'm a consultant and project manager) and success in my field depends both on

- Information collection and recall: for this I have found nothing more powerful and convenient than Evernote;

and

- Organisation: even though I am not an Excel power user, I believe that I could do most things I need in this area with spreadsheets. I would opt for Treesheets' if its numerical capability was more advanced (right now it's experimental and undocumented)

That said, I would be rather miserable without much of the ecosystem of (to a great extent redundant) tools that I have come to acquire over the years...

Steve,
you wrote that

...........I use a combination of PersonalBrain and OneNote for managing most of
my projects, but I could, if need be, use Zoot for that -- in fact, it could handle that
pretty well, I think.

I would be very interested in how you use personal brain. For the last week or so, I have been playing around with it and need to come to a decision whether to buy it or not. Lately I am developing a marked preference for net- or web-like information handling rather than the hierarchical outliners.

The only thing holding me back is that I am not sure how it works with lots of information - would you mind sharing your experience?
Thanks, Susanne

Susanne,

If I may just butt in here, as I'm a heavy user of Personal Brain myself, mainly for creating web sites:

- Having a lot of thoughts does not have any significant effect on performance that I have noticed. I have a glossary, for example, with >6500 thoughts, without any noticeable slowing down.
- Where there is a limit is in the size of the notes within each thought. In one of my brains I have notes which may contain >30 graphic-heavy pages. Working with these, and saving them, grinds to a halt at a certain point. For those chapters I have to use the data as an attachment instead of putting it into a note.

Graham

Susanne wrote:

I would be very interested in
how you use personal brain. For the last week or so, I have been playing around with it
and need to come to a decision whether to buy it or not. Lately I am developing a marked
preference for net- or web-like information handling rather than the hierarchical
outliners.

The only thing holding me back is that I am not sure how it works with lots
of information - would you mind sharing your experience?

Visual Foxpro. I can't work without it and, if I had to, I could replace many other programs with it.

Graham

DaXiong wrote:

What is
the absolute one piece of software you have to have?

Susanne,

I'll be happy to answer that question, but I'll do so in a new thread so as not to hijack this one.

(Thanks for asking, as I LOVE to converse about this stuff!)

Steve Z.

Susanne wrote:

Steve,
you wrote that

>...........I use a combination of PersonalBrain and
OneNote for managing most of
>my projects, but I could, if need be, use Zoot for that --
in fact, it could handle that
>pretty well, I think.

I would be very interested in
how you use personal brain. For the last week or so, I have been playing around with it
and need to come to a decision whether to buy it or not. Lately I am developing a marked
preference for net- or web-like information handling rather than the hierarchical
outliners.

The only thing holding me back is that I am not sure how it works with lots
of information - would you mind sharing your experience?
Thanks, Susanne

I use Scrivener and DevonThink Pro Office every day - often every hour - and as far as I'm concerned they're the best at what they do. I have a love/hate relationship with Tinderbox. I like and use the Omni Group's products Omnifocus, OmniOutliner and OmniPlan. I'm also a big fan of Curio.

But are they essential to me? No. Apart from the Mac OS X file system, at a pinch a replacement for any information manager, the two applications which above all others are essential because they are pretty much irreplaceable are MS Word and MS Excel. Word can carry out virtually any writing task, just not very well, and enable collaboration and communication with other users. MS Excel is IMO unique and can of course be used for jobs ranging from complex multi-sheet valuation spreadsheets to PIM-creation to project management to - yes - outlining. You could probably make a mind-map with it - I bet someone has.

The irony is that I use them only very occasionally, but when I do they're, well, essential.

For outline/organizing/productivity my choice would be myBase+WebCollect. (Hopefully the upcoming version will have Boolean search.)

Well, if I am only to name one application, then it's OpenOffice.org (Writer and Calc). That's what I use to produce my newsletters and magazines, blog entries and website text.

Off course, supported by a collection of tools such as Duden Korrektor (THE German spellchecker integrated with OpenOffice.org or Word), Evernote, OneNote, Dropbox, Noteliner, Xmind, PhraseExpress, Ditto, Outlook, ThumbsPlus and SnagIt - on Windows.

Franz

Ultra Recall - by far the most complete and versatile PIM there is, IMHO :) , used 24/7 at work/home to store every important information I come across so that I can concentrate on thinking and undertanding instead of remembering -> for that UR is perfect.

Dont recommend UR if (some standard rants):
- you want to search across databases
- you're taking 100s of grabs per day so that it's essential that it takes at most 2.532 seconds instead of 3.5 seconds.
- you need some advanced formatting but pressing CTRL+J and waiting 5 second until your Word opens is waaaay too much.

In that case, just join this website and waste 100s hours installing and removing tons of software ... and 5 years later you'll realize that UR was still the most comprehensive programs of all you've tried

;-)

Quant, your post brought a smile to my face. How well you've captured some of the idiosyncrasies of the people her. Uh...I mean the other people. Not me, of course.

Cheers,

Daly

quant wrote:

Ultra Recall - by far the most complete and versatile PIM there is, IMHO :) , used 24/7 at
work/home to store every important information I come across so that I can
concentrate on thinking and undertanding instead of remembering -> for that UR is
perfect.

---------------------------------------------
I tried UR, but found its ability to capture Web pages to rather pathetic. Has it improved to, say, the level of myBase+WebCollect or Surfulater?

Starting in 2008, I got a new computer that moved me from Windoze 2000 pro to Vista. In 2009 I moved from my trusty Palm Treo 680 to the Windoze Treo Pro. Then last month I purchased the HP Touchpad.

Through all these changes there were some programs I had expected to work on the new device or expected something similar. Yes, there may be alternatives to a certain degree butI have no interest in all the tweaking that invariably must be done to make the alternative program work. My list is:

1. Roboform for all of my online websites and logins.
2. NoteTab text editor. It also has a useful outliner function.
3. Bonsai outliner.
4. Lotus Wordpro. Yes, that's correct, good old Wordpro. It works. It has all my years of templates in it. I know how it works. It is still my "go to" program when I create flyers and postcards for mailings. I'm using Atlantis word processor more for things like blog writing and stuff, but WordPro is still my fail-safe.
5. Brainstorm

BTW, If FORCED to choose Brainstorm or Bonsai I'd choose Brainstorm.

Steve

The only truly indispensable information-management program I own would be OneNote. I've been using it for years to store information I need to save long-term and have built up some massive notebooks. OneNote will do just about everything.

I know the original question was about software, but I'll interpret that to include hardware as well. The best productivity tools I own are hardware-related.

1. Multiple monitors. Using a second monitor is so efficient that I can't imagine working without one.

2. Voice recorders. I carry one around with me all the time and use it to dictate notes, memos, task lists, reminders, etc. I record daily wake-up messages and play them back while I'm shaving every morning. It's fantastically simple and efficient.

Getting back to software, Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred is another indispensable program. I've been using my recorder more and more for brainstorming, creating outlines and rough drafts, taking research notes, etc. If I'm dictating something I want to save, I'll dictate punctuation, transcribe the recording into Word or Dragonpad, then save the transcript into OneNote.

I'd switch to dictation for everything if I could find a good application for searching audio files. So far, I haven't been able to find one.

I take this question to mean what software would cause you the greatest pain if it were suddenly unavailable. Here's my ranking:

1. BrainStormWFO -> MaxThink (ouch)
2. Ubuntu -> Windows or Red Hat (ouch)
3. Skype -> ? (double ouch)
4. Emacs -> VI (learning curve, no org mode)
5. Wordpress -> Blogger or Drupal or something (ouch)
6. Gmail -> Yahoo mail (ouch)
7. Chrome -> Firefox (slower)
8. OpenOffice -> ? (ouch)
9. Google Reader -> ? (lame)
10. Pithos -> ? (lame music)
11. GIMP -> Photoshop (ouch)

I have a suspicion Zoot will make it onto this list once I get around to testing it for tracking my chron tapes.

Ultra Recall has definitely been my most-used PIM-type app over the past six years. Of course, I flirt with a lot of the other usual suspects, too - Ecco with eccoext, BrainStorm, Zoot, etc.

I have been using Evernote for several months. I tried using it as my "everything" application, but found I couldn't do without the fine-grained control I am used to in UR. Now, I use EN for mobile capture and some mobile reference (I place things I might need while out and about into EN). With the HTML export of the latest Windows desktop version, I could actually sync that entire EN export folder to UR and have all of my EN stuff available in UR - although I haven't done it yet.

One app that really has saved a CRIMPer like me from certain demise is Directory Opus - its low-level file search is actually quite good at finding text in all the variations of PIM software I've used over the years, including Info Select, Ecco, Zoot, UR, BrainStorm, etc. It's very slow, but I have literally thousands of old PIM files and searching them with DO lets me at least narrow down to a set of files to check for what I am looking for. I'm sure there is other low-level file search programs that would work, but I also like DO as a general file manager.

Chris

I also use many of the programs listed here (CRIMPer extraordinaire) -- but, I could never get my mind around using Zoot. The user interface seems non-standard and messy to me. However, I've downloaded the latest XT release candidate and will give it another go. Does anyone know of any good tutorials/videos for learning how to use Zoot in the real world?

By the way, I could not do without WebResearch by macropool - http://www.macropool.com/en/ - although I've also been known to use Surfulater.
-- Glen

Add me as another recent Zoot convert. I've been running betas and release candidates for over a month now, and have been quite blown away by the power and flexibility. It reminds me alot of a cross between InfoQube (in a more polished form) and Omea Pro (but still alive). It is flexible enough to be adopted to just about any use. I had previously tried Zoot back in the 4.0 days, but it never clicked for me and was limited to plain text at that time. Per a message from Stephen on this forum noting that the new XT version was in beta, I took a peek at it again. Somehow, without any direct intent on my part, it has become my tool of choice and is part of my daily workflow. A couple of over-the-top features for me:

- Ability to take notes about my notes. Very important when taking meeting notes and a thought jumps in my head that I don't want to lose. I can highlight an item in my notes outline and add a comment to it for follow up or whatever - all without changing the context of the task at hand...very nice!

- Related item linking. When working in any item, I can create a linked item of any type and then see and manage it later. For example, taking notes in a meeting, I get an action item assigned to me. Rather than burying it in the text of my notes, I instead hit CTRL-L --> Task and voila - a new task is created that is linked back to my notes. And in case you're wondering, yes, the meeting notes are an item linked back to the calendar event of the meeting. All the linking and context association is incredibly valuable for me to see related items as a set of linked items without having to tag/associate them (although Zoot supports that too!)

- Custom fields and forms. I took the standard Contact type item and made an new item type called "Stakeholder". I then added custom fields such as "Interest in Project", "Commitment Level", and others that relate to project stakeholders. I then used the custom forms capability to allow me to enter the fields data I want and remove those I don't want. Now my workstream database has a list of stakeholders that have all the data I want about them, but none of the stuff I don't want.

- Search....very fast, very powerful, and simple to save searches for re-use later.

It is truly a deep application, and I haven't even enabled the Outlook integration yet - which I plan to do once I've configured it to my liking first. There is definitely a learning curve, but I like the challenge of learning a new tool. The OOTB databases (containers of like item types) have sufficient configuration that you could use it without ever customizing it and still get a great tool. You'd be missing out on alot of it's power though. Much of what I've learned I've discovered just by clicking around on the interface. It also has some unique idiosyncrasies about it - but hey - don't we all? :-)

Didn't mean to thread-hijack, but you asked about real life use Glenn! Zoot has now worked it's way into a position as the one tool that I can't live without now....

Glen,

I believe Tom Davis, the developer of Zoot, is putting together help files now -- which is why the current version is still only a release candidate. Official release is supposed to happen in September, so I am hopeful there will be some help in the form of a help document and video tutorials. There is enough new in XT to make it necessary.

Steve Z.

Glen Coulthard wrote:

I also use many of the programs listed here (CRIMPer extraordinaire) -- but, I could
never get my mind around using Zoot. The user interface seems non-standard and messy
to me. However, I've downloaded the latest XT release candidate and will give it
another go. Does anyone know of any good tutorials/videos for learning how to use Zoot
in the real world?

By the way, I could not do without WebResearch by macropool -
http://www.macropool.com/en/ - although I've also been known to use Surfulater.

-- Glen

I reviewed my post and can not believe I neglected my PIM - Intellect from Chaos Software. Granted, I've only used this since I rediscovered it in 2008 but now it is essential.
Steve

Steve wrote:

Starting in 2008, I got a new computer that moved me from Windoze 2000 pro to Vista. In
2009 I moved from my trusty Palm Treo 680 to the Windoze Treo Pro. Then last month I
purchased the HP Touchpad.

Through all these changes there were some programs I had
expected to work on the new device or expected something similar. Yes, there may be
alternatives to a certain degree butI have no interest in all the tweaking that
invariably must be done to make the alternative program work. My list is:

1.
Roboform for all of my online websites and logins.
2. NoteTab text editor. It also has
a useful outliner function.
3. Bonsai outliner.
4. Lotus Wordpro. Yes, that's
correct, good old Wordpro. It works. It has all my years of templates in it. I know how it
works. It is still my "go to" program when I create flyers and postcards for mailings.
I'm using Atlantis word processor more for things like blog writing and stuff, but
WordPro is still my fail-safe.
5. Brainstorm

BTW, If FORCED to choose Brainstorm
or Bonsai I'd choose Brainstorm.

Steve

Man Chaos Intellect that brings back memories, I'd totally forgotten my attempt to live in it years ago.

Is there any place where I can read about your workflow, Steve? I'm curious how you use Zoot and Intellect and others together.

I already got Alexander's figured out... no idea you had posted so much about BrainStormWFO, Alex, you've been doing it for years. Respect.

I admit Cyborganize might currently be weak on file management, Ultra Recall or something else might ultimately be a solution I'd look at.

I'm finishing up a page that's purely reconstructed from BrainStormWFO user reviews and testimonials, many of them from here. I literally just copied them all into BrainStormWFO, sorted them, and created a page from it.

It's still rough but here's the link, since I'm quoting several people from here. The quote attributions aren't added yet. http://brainstormsw.com/outliner/265-2/