hierarchical note takeing apps are one of those programs like wsw that many people dont use and which i consider to be one of those kinds of apps that can make such a difference.. so they really need a review and advocacy.

-mouser (April 25, 2005, 06:58 PM)

This is resurrecting a really old post, but I've only just got around to reading this thread, and note-taking apps are one of my obsessions. Of course a lot depends on what you mean by a note-taking app.....

I agree with Mouser that there are so many programs and sub-categories that it's probably impossible to do a truly comprehensive review, or even overview, but I also think it's one of those categories that many people are not even aware of. That's a shame, because properly used these programs can be a great benefit to productivity.

As an example, I would not be without Ultra Recall (a great program to dump data in), Onfolio (a very powerful web research and publishing tool), Treepad (a traditional tree-based note-taker), Bonsai (a robust outliner that excels if you need to sync with your Palm). Then there's Notesholder for the short-term stuff...maybe I have too many of these programs. But they all serve a purpose.

And I'm forever evaluating/re-evaluating other options. At the moment I'm looking at Surfulater, a very promising program in the same category as Onfolio, but one that takes a very different approach. And I'm almost breathless with anticipation of the next version of Zoot....

If you share this minority passion, it's worth visiting http://www.outliners.com/discuss/ if you have not already done so. Although the group is called Outliners, conversation ranges widely over information management apps, and it contains some of the best conversations on the web on this topic.

Ultra Recall: http://www.ultrarecall.com/      Onfolio: http://www.onfolio.com/
Treepad: http://www.treepad.com/          Bonsai: http://www.natara.com/
Notesholder; http://notes.aklabs.com/     Surfulater: http://www.surfulater.com/
Zoot: http://www.zootsoftware.com/

And now for something completely different.....

As others have said, it does all depend what you want a macro program to do, but for the basic turbo-charged keyboard shortcut program I really like Activewords. Nicely designed program that's surprisingly powerful when you get to know it, and has a helpful community. $49. (http://www.activewords.com/ for details. I also use Macro Express.

In fact if I had to name the programs that keep me wedded to Windows, Activewords and Macro Express would be two of them. I'd be hard pressed to think of many others - maybe Roboform. All three do wonders for my productivity.


John