I just came across this thread. I was interested in Whizfolders and followed a link from a lifehacker article to this page. Very interesting. Seems the thread stopped around xmas. I thought I'd fire up a note to see if folks are interested in keeping it going. -philosopherdog
Why not!
The one thing I found a bit disappointing about this discussion was the rather brisk dismissal of InfoSelect. InfoSelect, despite its many flaws, is probably still the most powerful note programs around. It can handle a tree structure with both automatic and manual tagging, filtering of tags and blisteringly fast search as you type. One thing that's very nice about it is the ability to float any number of windows even outside the program and pin them. Of course the program is a bit pricey and it does have some bloat (but you can shut off email support and other things). IS can readily split longer imported .doc files, which I haven't seen any other program be able to handle quite as powerfully.-philosopherdog
I agree completely. And I should have a look at Info Select again. It's a very very powerful app. However, when I last tried it (a long time a go), it didn't seem to be that great for palm syncing (one of my requirements at the time) -- even with the Info Select palm application (according to web reviews)-- , it could not easily integrate with my GTD system, the calendar was ugly and not convenient (IMO), the drag and drop was not always very intuitive, it became a bit slow when using huge databases (it wasn't mine, but a friend's, for testing purposes), web capturing wasn't great, and it didn't do what I was looking for in terms of data structuring and displaying (as described
there). It also felt a bit alien and didn't fit well with my other office applications.
My opinion might change if I'd try it again though.
Recently I've been using Evernote 2.2. It's amazing for webcapture, and I love the tagging feature. But like others have observed, the fact that you can only display your list chronologically is a serious limitation. But it's superior to Onenote by miles.-philosopherdog
Comparing EverNote and OneNote is tricky, but, like you, I don't like OneNote and the way info is organized (in pieces which are hard to have a global view of). Some aspects of OneNote are great, but others are just too inflexible for me.
BTW, EverNote allows you to display your list in other ways, not only chronologically. If you go into view-->note list, and click on the "title" heading of the note list, all notes will be ordered alphabetically by their title.
For me the ideal notetaking application would build on the strengths of MS Word. I would love the power of Word, especially Word's outline view, and styles. From there all I would need is the ability to tag paragraphs is unlimited ways, and the ability to filter my information and search it quickly with the ability to display this either strictly according to my paragraph tags or according to some combination of tags and headings. Anyhow, right now I still don't see anything more powerful out there than Infoselect, although I'm checking out SQLNotes and hoping this will be it!
-philosopherdog
I've been discussing that matter
there. I've personally kept using Word for most of my stuff. But, recently, I've started to move some of my work related data and personal research on SQLNotes.
As you probably found out by now, I'm a pretty big fan of SQLNotes... even if it's still in beta and there are still some small bugs here and there, and some days I'm mad at it.
If Pierre (PPLandry -- SQLNotes' developer) sees that many people need such solutions ("writer" oriented), he might put more energy into the MS Word integration into SQLNotes -- that will be an amazing step in terms of usability. (But because the calendar is coming real soon, together with gantt charting and other goodies -- and this is taking a lot of development time --, MS Word integration will have to wait a bit... from what I've heard, it's already functional, except for some little quirks here and there).
I'm convinced though that very soon (in a few months) SQLNotes will be able to do exactly what you're describing ("tag paragraphs is unlimited ways, and the ability to filter my information and search it quickly with the ability to display this either strictly according to my paragraph tags or according to some combination of tags and headings.") and... probably even more than what you actually thought was possible.
As I said, I've started to use SQLNotes to structure big amounts of data, like teaching planing (with all the infos on each student, etc.), Personal journal and mood diary, Theater Research, Software reviews, personal finances, etc. In terms of flexibility, filtering, etc., I find it superior to Info Select. There's also a coherency to it that I prefer... Of course, there are a few things missing (like palm syncing -- coming with Outlook syncing--, alarms...) so I can't fully use it now. But after seeing many solutions on the market, I'm now a "believer"... And I'm not the only one : superboyac who started this thread is actually pretty much sold too, tomos, and maybe others...
Yes, The learning curve can be a bit steep, but the basic principles are in fact fairly simple if you take your time to understand them. SQLNotes is indeed very flexible and there's almost always a way to do what you want to achieve, even if you thought that it wasn't possible at first...! So, as a research tool, I think that SQLNotes
will be ideal (imagine : mind mapping is coming too, but this will take a bit more time). Anyways : together with MS Word, EndNote, X1/Archivarius and my own filenaming AHK scripts, it makes a great combo!
Of course, there are other solutions, and I'd be very interested to know how you plan to use Info Select if you decide to use it.
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Several applications I use rely on the AERO interface to run (Switcher, for example). I hate having to use an XP machine anymore because I lose not only the "feeling", but also the capabilities that I have to utilize. No little pop-up images of programs in alt-tab or over taskbar buttons. No 3D window flipping. ObjectDock window previews don't work without AERO. The list goes on. And plus, it is just way more eye-catching than a big blue taskbar (or the gray one on Xubuntu). 
