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Question: What software is absolutely essential to you
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Posted by Cassius
Aug 1, 2011 at 11:10 PM
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.
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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?
Posted by Steve
Aug 2, 2011 at 02:52 PM
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
Posted by Gary Carson
Aug 2, 2011 at 03:40 PM
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.
Posted by JBfromBrainStormWFO
Aug 2, 2011 at 05:18 PM
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.
Posted by Chris Murtland
Aug 2, 2011 at 07:30 PM
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