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calendars - remembering the almond milk and sea moss smoothies
CodeTRUCKER:
...
As for MLO, I enjoy my life disorganized, so that is a dissonance of sorts. All I want to know is .. oh, yes there is a conference or concert or meeting tonite.. or all three ..
-Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 06:18 AM)
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[emphasis mine]
This is exactly what MLO is good for. Enter it, forget it until MLO tells you it is time to do something.
oh yes, I also have a couple of other things to get done quickly.
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A feature of MLO is to filter based on how much time you have available at any given time.
Dormouse:
Yet I agree that ToDoList is very kewl (it really LOOKS like a todo list, with a real earnestness) .. have you been able to filter and then use the calendar plugin very effectively ? -Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 10:31 AM)
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TDL is just so much more efficient to use. All the others require completing the input forms. TDL allows fast input of task titles with Ctrl N and then clicking the dropboxes below as required. Plus filters, Plus sophisticated searches. I've checked the calendar and the filters do work with it. It doesn't show times (I think), but I don't use it as a calendar at all. The calendar is certainly not an input area, just a way of viewing some of the data. It wouldn't make me view TDL as a PIM with calendar, but it is a calendar and it does work.
With AAO the month-at-a-time view is a symptom of its general calendar weakness, yet, like the anemic linear only printout function, still potentially sufficient. I looked at the forums and saw only modest activity, with little discussion of this aspect. A bit of an oops. If many folks were really plugging away with the program, you would expect a clamor, a unified cry ... calendar ! -Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 10:31 AM)
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Yes, it just doesn't really do anything I want, and its not obvious why it would be better than Outlook. And I share your attitude to Outlook.
Caliminjaro .. first I heard of it.. looked nice but its master view is too "planner" oriented for me (my days are largely free-lance)
http://www.prweb.com/releases/software/calendar/prweb447911.htm
And with the defunct aspect as well, no real consideration.-Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 10:31 AM)
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I wouldn't have recommended Calimajaro on the basis of your described wants (and didn't). OTOH, it doesn't have to have a planner view. There are 4 tabs at the top, in each of which you can define the precise view you want (approximating to day, week, month, year); which you have on view is up to you - or you can choose just to have a listing of events. You can have hierarchical categories (called calendars) and filter as you want. And it communicates with iCal. So easy views of almost any range from 1 day to 2 years, good filtering, pretty easy input and reasonable import/export - and effectively now free. Works fast and quite pretty; visuals good with the colour coding.
Essential PIM .. does it have sub-tasks, and such, categories and assignees like in AAO ? I never found the PIM softwares like Time & Chaos (now Intellect) and Essential PIM quite up to what I wanted on the ToDo list aspect. (I am looking for a ToDo-Calendar-Reminder balance, everything else auxiliary). -Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 10:31 AM)
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I've never really used it except as a portable prog that has a year planner view that can be useful for other people. Most functionality is really on the Pro version rather than the free one. The Pro version does have sub-tasks etc and categories (IIRC) but no assignees; not the easiest linkage with the Calendar. You'd be better off with comments from someone who does use it.
Do_Organizer might be better from that perspective, yet they had that funny aspect of multiple products and uncertain future, if I recall properly.-Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 10:31 AM)
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Well, I daresay DO will do what you want. Possibly not as smoothly as some other progs, but probably with a lot more functionality available. Surprisingly close to being a totally brilliant program, but with lots of interface tweaks, & some function changes to actually get there. Will it happen? I don't know.
a) Agenda at Once
b) Active Desktop Calendar
c) ToDoList with the plugin
None is in the lead, all seem to have strengths, and possibly a major weakness or two. I would actually spend a few hours on a 3 to 5 program shootout .. since my decision would hopefully last a while.
-Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 10:31 AM)
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I wouldn't use Active Desktop Calendar myself as it is too invasive. And no view longer than a month - but that doesn't seem to be a problem for you. I doubt that the ToDoList plugin presents enough information in a controlled enough way for you. AaO is what it is.
I don't know of an Ultra Recall plugin. InfoQube will have a steep learning curve and may not be quite there yet in terms of Calendar functionality (I've not investigated that side in even minor detail), but would otherwise do the job probably.
I've not found what I consider to be a really good solution - but then my needs and preferences are quite different to yours. I'll certainly be interested in your further investigations and any review.
Steven Avery:
Hi Folks,
CodeTrucker - I will consider a side-by-side of MLO and AgendaAtOnce. Both are lite on the calendar side, especially printing. I may do a bit this AM on that, I probably can have a small sense in 15-30 minutes of comparing. It should be interesting, Agenda At Once trying to be more of a PIM, MLO trying to be more disciplined with your tasks. I have used MLO a while back, although I don't think I ever bought.
Here are notes on a few other softwares.
MyBase - the developer posted back around 2004 that a calendar feature is a need in their forum. MyInfo doesn't seem to have anything. RedBox Organizer (a real oldie now owned by a dubious company) - the review at Snapfiles points out fatal flaws in ToDo, such as no recurring entries.
TreePad does have three separate utilities for creating calendars and the $45 Biz version has some calendar and ToDo features and the $65 Enterprise version adds a "Calendar Window". (Would scour for discounts.) Whether I would find its ToDo of substance is a question, if it is functional Treepad could be a contender coming from the Notes metaphor.
Shalom,
Steven Avery
Steven Avery:
Hi Folks,
Dormouse, I see your point on the invasiveness of Active Desktop Calendar. (Whether or not you have to activate the "Active Desktop"). Why don't they have a non-desktop mode ? Good question to research. You would expect a light feature list to be on your desktop. Or something with simple static information, such as puter specs (I have that added on the desktop from Sysinternals). Without a new understanding, it will be dropped and the "Calendar" slot will be reopened.
Good points on ToDoList, I may use it more for ToDos, but if it doesn't allow an event to stretch over multiple days on the calendar it simply will not be a contender. In the old days when I really looked at ToDo lists I used to try ToDoList and a second program .. recently I tried to figure what was the second and looked around, even in my notes and old explorer trees, and so far could never remember what it was. Anyway, ToDoList is super-quality for ToDo viewing, but with the lack mentioned above (add the difficulty getting the reminder plugin and the lack of times in the calendar) it just has to drop from the current search, even if considered and used for various ToDo needs.
AAO, Outlook and Essential PIM all share some features. Perhaps it is true that Outlook trumps AAO in some ways, I think Essential PIM was the one PIM that was designed to be "Outook-ish" from the get-go. Agenda At Once to me seems pretty solid and simple and strong in the ToDo section (no, not like ToDoList but better than PIMs in general). I really don't see the necessity of a separate window opening up for data entry being much of a lack, AAO still enters at a pretty snappy pace. Right now Essential Pim Pro is one of the two or three PIMs I plan to install and try. (Although I may install free first, just to see the differences. Last time I had this on my system was about two years ago. Their marketing has always been a little funny, but inexpensive so that is not a complaint.)
Structural notes : If categories are flexible (if you can choose multiple categories at one time) you can put assignee functions within categories. A bit of a conceptual workaround, but not a difficult one. Oh, along with choosing multiple categories comes the feature to name and save a filter for recall. Close to essential for this full ToDo - Calendar overlay integration.
Do_Organizer and their party of products will have to have its own separate look-see. Is it in active development or dormant at this time ? Or unclear, or what.
Calimajaro - the big lack is its defunctability. Otherwise, it would clearly be a contender, but I do not see beginning with a program that is ending, trains passing in the night.
Right, Ultra Recall, InfoQube and any other similars probably are not quite ready for prime time for this need. Unless we hear a holla. I may check the Alpha Software and WinDev forums and discussions, those two products are quite interesting with some calendar features built in. However the To-Do would have to be an app. You always have to check whether you need a run-time version or whether they create an .exe or what. Filemaker and Access and others probably have something too, but Alpha and WinDev are the ones that I definitely will like to check since I fancy myself a programmer for those softwares in the long run or short haul.
Shalom,
Steven
PPLandry:
Nobody has mentioned Ecco Pro yet... As far as a Calendar app with todos, contacts and filtering (i.e. categories) it is hard to beat. Plus it is free. Sure it isn't being developed anymore, but it is an excellent app, which still runs on modern OSs.
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