I am wondering what this group thinks of as the top developments in the PIM/outliner world during the past 12 months. For me, two things stand out:

1. OneNote 2007 became commercially available in January.
2. Zoot 4.5 (32-bit version) beta was released over the summer and continues to be refined.

I'm sure others of you have your own top developments. What are they?

Steve Z.

Stephen, I'd agree with you re Zoot, especially as 2007 is the year I began to learn and use Zoot seriously. I hope it will continue to develop in a somewhat faster way, but it is worth waiting for.

I can't comment on OneNote as I have never tried it.

2007 was the year of disillusionment with the far from graceful, not to mention untimely, death of ADM. Perhaps I should say "apparent" death, as we have had no official word, and both Eric and Arne, the two principals, have either disappeared or are just ignoring former loyal and trusted users. There are unque qualities to ADM that are not duplicated in other software.

I think this has been a year when we have seen Web2 apps start to take hold and proliferate as an option.

I like looking at them and playing, but this year I have got into USB sticks and carrying everything around my neck -- much more flexible than Web2 or using CDs with data on, which means having the same program on two or more computers.

I think a first this year was seeing the first "beginning to be usable by the ordinary person" version of Chandler. Worth following in the new year.

MyInfo has progressed nicely in v4 in the last year, but still needs to develop a hoist mechanism and easier use of its web features. But MI and Zoot are my two main programs now.

I have been disappointed in the changes to MDE InfoHandler 2008 version which is a real makeover from version 10. I had promised Manfred I would give 2008 a real try for a month to see if I can get on to it, but just haven''t had the time. I think there's a lot of concern and controversy among IH users over the changes. I will try, nonetheless, to keep my promise to Manfred.

It seems to me from what I have seen in the UR forums and other places on the net that some of the bloom has come off the UltraRecall rose because of database issues and structure.

In terms of desktop search, I've been pissed off at just about any program I have tried, free or otherwise. Am now testing X1, and think it may well be worth the cost.

Daly

PS And Arne and Eric, if you guys are still hoping to develop ADM, I would love to test future builds and, if you can get to market, start using it again. By the way don't forget to write.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

I am wondering what this group thinks of as the top developments in the PIM/outliner
world during the past 12 months. For me, two things stand out:

1. OneNote 2007 became
commercially available in January.
2. Zoot 4.5 (32-bit version) beta was released
over the summer and continues to be refined.

I'm sure others of you have your own top
developments. What are they?

Steve Z.

Daly de Gagne wrote:

[snip] It seems to me from what I have seen
in the UR forums and other places on the net that some of the bloom has come off the
UltraRecall rose because of database issues and structure.[/snip]

Daly, In terms of gathering, manipulating, linking & finding items within the total data spectrum, i.e. of all kinds of data, I'm not sure any of products you've mentioned hold a candle to Ultra Recall.

Having said that, IMO, it is rather difficult to compare apples & oranges which is what both your & my comments represent based on our opinions about both product architecture and personal need.

I use UR every day & haven't had any database issues. The only data loss I thought I had encountered was caused by my own stupidity: opening an earlier version of my database.
And as a constant visitor to the forum -- I don't see any more / less interest./ disappointment in the product.

What I do see is constant, careful, steady, organized development with good technical support.

Could it use some more options? You bet. Are they coming? I believe so. There is a roadmap @ http://www.kinook.com/Forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3204 last updated in Novemeber in case you or another reader is interested.

Happy New Year to you Daly.

--
Jan Rifkinson
Ridgefield CT USA

Daly,

Your comment about carrying your information around your neck reminds me that I too have started doing that. So in a way, 2007 could be the year USB-based information management became truly viable, as many of the major PIMs added USB support.

I have to shuffle information among my office and home desktop computers as well as my laptop computer. OneNote works well for this, as it has a powerful and easy-to-use sync component, but you did need to have ON installed on all computers, so that isn't a viable alternative for use on computers outside my three. I was using a small, free wiki program called Notebook, which worked reasonably well, but didn't have the power I needed. When MyInfo came out with its latest version that supports USB installation, I tried that, but was disenchanted when I couldn't import CSV information into it. So I've now settled on the portable version of Evernote, which is working nicely so far.

So, yes, one of the major developments in the PIM/outliner world in 2007 could easily be portability.

Steve Z.

Daly de Gagne wrote:

I like looking at them and playing,
but this year I have got into USB sticks and carrying everything around my neck -- much
more flexible than Web2 or using CDs with data on, which means having the same program
on two or more computers.

Jan Rifkinson wrote:

I use UR every day & haven't had any database issues.

Same here. If there's one thing 'wrong' with UtraRecall that might be the outline tree paradigm which can become overcluttered. But as far as the implementation itself is concerned I find it impeccable.

I would note that I specifically started a thread here at some point to see whether there were any real issues (e.g. data loss, stability etc) encountered with UltraRecall and there were none.

alx

You missed my posts, then, in that thread - Ultra Recall continues to crash for me with great regularity on any PC I try it on. It does not lose data because it is built on a database that doesn't roll back. However, having to restart the program after every other transaction within it is a real pain and limits its usefulness to me. It's clearly related to the way it is used - I have heard this complaint from all sides, as often as I hear people like you and Jan mention that they have had no problems.

Graham

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

I would note that I specifically started a thread
here at some point to see whether there were any real issues (e.g. data loss, stability
etc) encountered with UltraRecall and there were none.

Graham Rhind wrote:

[snip] Ultra Recall continues to crash for me with
great regularity on any PC I try it on. It does not lose data because it is built on a
database that doesn't roll back. However, having to restart the program after every
other transaction within it is a real pain and limits its usefulness to me. It's
clearly related to the way it is used [/snip]

Graham,

From what you describe certainly limits UR's usefulness (an understatement) but your post begs a few questions:

(1) How do / did you use UR?
(2) Where are these people reporting these program crashes when you hear from just as many people reporting constant crashes? One would think these would appear on the UR forum & I haven't seen that kind of report recently.
(3) what kind of system are you on?
(4) did you try to repair / compact the data base or can you identify situations in which these crashes were inevitable?

None of these are meant as challenges to your credibility, rather a curiosity on my part.

Happy to respond, Jan. Please see my responses interleaved below.

Jan Rifkinson wrote:

Graham Rhind wrote:
>[snip] Ultra Recall continues to crash for me with
>great
regularity on any PC I try it on. It does not lose data because it is built on a
>database
that doesn't roll back. However, having to restart the program after every
>other
transaction within it is a real pain and limits its usefulness to me. It's
>clearly
related to the way it is used [/snip]

Graham,

From what you describe certainly
limits UR's usefulness (an understatement) but your post begs a few questions:

(1)
How do / did you use UR?

At the moment only for structured customer and process data. I.e., I make new templates for customer data and processing statistics and data entry into them.

(2) Where are these people reporting these program crashes
when you hear from just as many people reporting constant crashes? One would think
these would appear on the UR forum & I haven't seen that kind of report recently.

I don't check the UR forum any more, and I would assume that anybody using UR and experiencing crashes would not proceed with using the program and wouldn't report it anyway. UR is one of those programs which creates fierce loyalty in its users, and few people enjoy being barked at if they don't enjoy the same stability as others. Anyway, I've seen reports in this forum and in other online forums, but I couldn't, to be honest, name any offhand. If I hadn't seen them I would have continued to assume that the problems were mine only, which I don't.

(3)
what kind of system are you on?

Windows XP. I used to use UR on an XP system where I was not completely happy with the memory and setup, and I assumed that the crashes were system-dependent. However, I have moved UR to a high-spec system with the maximum allowable memory for an XP machine. UR crashes slightly less often, but it crashes. It exits without any message from UR or from Windows, so it seems that neither is "aware" of the crash. Having disposed of the memory problem theory I have two remaining theories on why I am having problems:

1) UR clashes with another program. There are some programs that I use on all my systems, so if UR doesn't like one of them, it won't work on any system. However, no other program crashes on my systems as UR does.
2) I'm tending towards UR not being able to manage the speed with which I work. The underlying database clearly takes a while to close and save one record and to move on to the next. I note that the faster I work, the more UR crashes. If I use my mouse at a snail's pace, UR stays up longer.

(4) did you try to repair / compact the data base or can
you identify situations in which these crashes were inevitable?

No to the first question - I've never considered the possibility that the database had become corrupted - as a database manager I can usually recognise the symptons and would have responded. Also, UR has been like this for me since day 1. However, I'll try it...

I've tried it. Darn it, it won't crash at will any more - sod's law? I'll keep the group updated ....

Graham

Graham Rhind wrote:

2) I'm
tending towards UR not being able to manage the speed with which I work. The underlying
database clearly takes a while to close and save one record and to move on to the next. I
note that the faster I work, the more UR crashes. If I use my mouse at a snail's pace, UR
stays up longer.

Yes, this would seem to describe some of the crashes I've experienced during the year (since the release of v.3x), although I'm no speed demon on the keyboard. What I've experienced seems more connected to Form Refreshes or writing to the record after moving focus off the Form.

All very intermittent with no discernable pattern. 'Course, if the frequency of these interruptions were to increase to the levels you describe - I'd think twice about continued use also.

These situations would "lose" the data from the last entry, which is understandable since the program is not completing the write operation. In most cases it required a forced shutdown of UR.

I will say that these instances have been more infrequent of late, so it may have some connection to the current release addressing some of these problems.

Graham, Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my queries. I'm truly puzzled because what you describe is just so foreign to my experience. Here's what I know / think about the particular situation you reference.

I cannot explain why URp crashes on all your machines. Of course it is possible that it is in conflict w something else but one would assume @ this stage that this behavior is more Win95-98 like vs w2k or XP.

All things are *not* perfect in my URp world either as there have been irregularities but no data loss & very, very few program crashes for the past months. In fact, I can't remember the last one.

OTOH I do see issues, principally one & not an inconsequential one either.

As you know URp saves items to DB either when focus changes or user uses S (which I do quite often out of habit).

However, if I enter data & quickly jump to another tab that may have an automated function like search, this can cause a non-lethal AV, i.e. the program doesn't crash but all the remaining views can get screwed up, referencing the wrong items in the related item panes or simply not refreshing properly.

I also find this may occur if I leave URp open overnight (clock / reminder change).

As a result, the user has to be careful when one of the AVs occur to refresh or close / re-open the remaining tabbed views. etc.

Kinook has addressed this issue & seems to be gaining on it bit by bit as the latest version (3.2.6) is a whole lot better that the earlier v3s. However, it is not bomb proof & it is very hard to track as it seems to happen irregularly (as you just discovered :)

I'm convinced (however as a non-techie) that URp has a problem ordering functions when the situation I described occurs, i.e. one incomplete function running head-on to another function.

This I have seen described by a number of people in a number of ways so I'm encouraged that this is the locus of the problem but what, if anything, can be done about it is beyond my pay grade. However, I'm sure Kinook is committed to nail it down as they appear very prompt & meticulous in their approach to problems as they pop up.

I don't know if any of this will help you or anyone else but this has been my experience & when you (& others) refer to working speedily, I think this is what is meant.... or at least, it is how I translate it.

Happy New Year to you all.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

I am wondering what this group thinks of as the top developments in the PIM/outliner
world during the past 12 months. For me, two things stand out:

1. OneNote 2007 became
commercially available in January.
2. Zoot 4.5 (32-bit version) beta was released
over the summer and continues to be refined.

I'm sure others of you have your own top
developments. What are they?

Steve Z.

With that part of me that remains in the Windows world, I agree with Steve Z.'s assessment, for the Windows platform.

However, I think those achievements are rivalled if not exceeded by developments on the Mac platform. I can't point to specific PIM or outliner launches, but the growing utility of the platform, as exemplified by the launch of Leopard, must mean that it will start to challenge Windows, and not just amongst traditional Mac adopters. Although the Leopard launch wasn't an unalloyed success, it was the first OS upgrade I've ever experienced (going back to DOS days) where the resulting system was significantly faster than its predecessor (as well as of course being significantly more useful). I understand the criticisms about backwards incompatibility, but for someone joining the platform afresh, it was a revelation.

Add to that the usefulness of programmes such as DevonThink (just made Spotlight-searchable), Curio (version 4 launched in 2007), Tinderbox (ditto), Things (alpha just launched), and of course, Scrivener (version 1.0 launched in 2007), and the platform appears to be enjoying a purple patch of potentially great benefit to people who think, structure and write for pleasure or for work.

Sniff Sniff...

I was hoping someone would mention SQLNotes (www.sqlnotes.net) as one of the top development in outlining software in 2007...

I'll aim to be in the 2008 contest instead ;-)

Pierre Paul Landry wrote:

I was hoping someone would mention SQLNotes (www.sqlnotes.net) as
one of the top development in outlining software in 2007...

Actually, you have been rather too quick to disapoint yourself ;-) Or maybe I've been slow to post --as well as going out on the UR tangent.

I intended to write about SQL Notes as a sort of 'hope for the future'. I think it will take a while before most of us appreciate it, as it's a rather strange beast.

SQL Notes is a hybrid one-pane outliner (a writing tool) and database (an information repository). Just like Connected Text --a wiki which also provides visual navigation- it takes time to conceptualise it and find how it would fit in one's workflow.

In any case, apart for the solid infrastructure which I have praised elsewhere, SQL Notes is blessed with the closest relationship I've personally witnessed between developer and (potential) public outside of the open-source world. This is a good thing but, as most of us know, you can have too much of a good thing.

So, all the best for SQL Notes in 2008

Cheers, alx

A 2007 development worth noting --though only time will tell whether it's positive or negative- is Vista. It has influenced the landscape since some of our beloved programs can't work with it. So it has been either upgrade or perish for their developers.

I have a feeling, for example, that Vista's arrival (and especially its bullyish preinstallation on new PCs) might have speeded the release of the 32-bit Zoot, as well as its adoption by users while still in Beta.

Another Vista side-effect might have been some Windows users' disenchantement and turn towards the Mac OS X --which, contrary to Vista, is faster than its previous releases. (I have personally recently made the decision to use Linux in parallel to Windows XP and see how it goes).

alx

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

SQL Notes is a hybrid one-pane outliner (a writing tool) and database (an information repository). Just like Connected Text --a wiki which also provides visual navigation- it takes time to conceptualise it and find how it would fit in one's workflow.

In any case, apart for the solid infrastructure which I have praised elsewhere, SQL Notes is blessed with the closest relationship I've personally witnessed between developer and (potential) public outside of the open-source world.

Thanks!

We're changing server (hopefully better than the previous one). So please use http://98.130.34.115/default.aspx instead of www.sqlnotes.net for the next few days (during the DNS change delay).

My two cents here:

UltraRecall - it is stable and further develpment is secured.

Dominik

2007 was a slow year, which I attribute to developers devoting effort to making their applications Vista-compatible. Honorable mentions, in no particular order, reflecting substantial incremental upgrades go to:

Microsoft Office 2007, for inventing the ribbon
Evernote, for continuing to improve an excellent free product
GoalEnforcer, for continued development of an original approach to task management
MS OneNote, for OneNote 2007
Achieve Planner, for substantial incremental improvements

AND THE WINNER IS:

MaxThink

For finally gracing the contemporary computer with a truly powerful outliner at an an affordable price, including adequate help.

Stephen Diamond

I left out BrainStorm in the honorable mentions, for an upgrade including bin sort.

DEwards (the opposite of rewards), for anti-user business practices, go to:

DIShonorable mention: UltraRecall, for limiting existing databases in a trial version--which recodes the database--to 1,000 records, even for licensed users trialing an upgrade.

and the LOSER is

ADM, for reasons everyone knows too well.

A couple more honorable mentions:

For continued substantial incremental improvements in hierarchical clip managers

AceText

ClipMate

Stephen R. Diamond wrote:

Microsoft Office 2007, for
inventing the ribbon

I might point out that there were certain small but significant improvements in Outlook. At first I didn't think the To-Do Bar was a big deal. But I have to say its been darned handy in that I rarely need to leave the view of my email inbox to see the most important immediate issues I have to work on. I was glad that further (major) improvements are being considered for the next version. There might be some minor project management features included.

Tom S.