I don't see what the big deal is with this app. Is the "notebook-like" interface supposed to make you focus more on the task at hand? WTH? Something like this could be coded in next to no time using standard Win32 controls. In fact, I'm sure it's been done a hundred times over.
For my own ToDo list, I use: http://todotxt.com
-skwire
The AutoFocus' main appeal is not so much the notebook-like interface system as it's "endless" linear downwards writing system.
The software isn't able to mimic it's seamless-ness because of the lack of keyboard shortcuts but you can see a glimpse of this in the software's one unique option when you right click and there's an option to "finish the task and copy it at the end".
Think of it like any endless toilet one pane notetaker combined with the pomodoro technique minus a time watch where if you've done a task even if you haven't done it yet completely you skip/complete the task and then copy it to the end and skip to the next unchecked task.
The pages are merely a constraint to replace the time watch. Again you can see hints of it in the other semi-unique option where if you hotkey to the first page, it hotkeys you first to the first page w/ unfinished tasks rather than the immediate first page.
Also variations of this depend on which version of AutoFocus you are implementing and personally it doesn't work that well for me too but it is one of the few software that integrates a truer system of AutoFocus into it's design. (I'm also particularly biased to the page flipping animation as I think it's a critical component of AutoFocus as it's intended to be a notebook only system.)
-Paul Keith
I don't see what the big deal is with this app. Is the "notebook-like" interface supposed to make you focus more on the task at hand? WTH? Something like this could be coded in next to no time using standard Win32 controls. In fact, I'm sure it's been done a hundred times over.
For my own ToDo list, I use: http://todotxt.com
-skwire
Hi skwire & Paul
You're right - the essence of the Autofocus application is not in the program itself, it's in the time management system, developed by Mark Forster. Approx. one month ago we created also the
Do It Tomorrow application which is more sophisticated and feature-full. On the other hand, it lacks the simplicity of the Autofocus.
The Autofocus is based on WPF/.NET 4.0 and yes, we've made it in a much shorter time than Do It Tomorrow. From the developer's perspective, the transition effects are perhaps one of the interesting points - we use Transitional component (
http://transitionals.codeplex.com/) and we added a reverse PageTransition routine, which will be very likely published on the CodeProject in the following weeks.
We have plans to develop the Autofocus application further, of course. We wanted to give people core functionalities in v1.0 and release the application as soon as possible.
Thank you all for your comments, they are very valuable for us.
