Tagamac

Things, the beautiful tag-based task manager that I’ve mooned over before, has been updated to version 0.9 (beta). This version adds recurring tasks, the ability to choose your Things library location (just hold down option while launching Things), hierarchical tags in the tag drop-down menu, and numerous welcome bug fixes and performance enhancements.

I can’t recommend Things highly enough. I’ve been using it since shortly before I recorded the screencast in November, and my opinion has only improved. Things is simply the easiest, most flexible solution to task management that I’ve found, I have a lot of respect for the developers’ creative vision, and the burgeoning Things community is great. For more information about the 0.9 release, see the blog posts on recurring tasks and the 0.9 release announcement or the release notes. Things is, as always, free to use until its release, and I’ve found it to be extremely stable. Bugs tend to be cosmetic rather than data-threatening.

TaskPaper, the ultra-slimmed down task management software from Hog Bay Software, is on sale today, February 25, 2008 only for $12 (down from its current introductory price of $18.95) over at MacZot.

Been a while since MacZot had anything halfway worthwhile, but TaskPaper is definitely a well-designed app. Although TaskPaper isn’t fully-featured enough for me, for some people it’s the perfect minimalist way to keep track of your tasks. Even if you don’t end up buying it, I highly recommend trying to use it for a week just to discover which features actually matter to you in a task management app and which you can happily live without.

If you’ve been waiting to shell out for OmniFocus in the hopes that you could try the competition, you’re in luck! Things, the hot new GTD app from Cultured Code, is now available as a completely public preview. Head over to the Things website to download it if you want to see for yourself how cool tagging and GTD are together. Additionally, pricing info has been announced! Things will be released in Spring 2008 for $49, or $39 for members of the mailing list who sign up before January 31st. Keep in mind that Things is still not feature-complete, but the latest preview versions are very stable; I’ve been using it as my primary task manager since shortly before the limited public preview was released and have been very happy with it.

I’ve written a page in the now-public Things wiki with a real-world tagging example if you would like some help designing your tag cloud for Things. Additionally, you can still watch my Things screencast if you’d like to see it in action before diving in yourself. Please note that some very cool features have been added (particularly the ability to link to email messages and other documents) since I recorded the screencast, though.

For those hardy souls who want to try every single Getting Things Done application available for Mac, the alpha version of iGTD 2 is now available for download. Please note that the iGTD 2 alpha is Leopard only. Additionally, as alpha software, it is likely not feature complete and is probably rife with bugs (already there’s been reports of problems with changing the sort order in the task tab). This is an excellent chance to try out all the alternatives before OmniFocus’s half-price sale ends, but I doubt you’ll want to use iGTD 2 for actual work yet.

Personally, I’m really excited to be able to try iGTD 2 out next to Things to see how two different developers implemented a similar idea. I had mixed feelings about iGTD 1, but given how much I’m enjoying Things, I suspect that iGTD 2’s interface changes and general approach to tasks will make it a much more compelling task management app.

As if you didn’t have enough to do this holiday season, the alpha version of iGTD 2 is slated to be released sometime near the end of December. As of this writing, the alpha is about 95% done and presumably ready for public consumption.

I’m honestly a little perplexed by the number of independent Mac developers releasing alpha software these days, complete with bugs and lacking promised features. I’m sure that the pending release of OmniFocus is the reason GTD developers are pushing their software out the door as soon as possible, but it still seems like a fairly dangerous move. Even software that is publicly released in beta form often gets seriously delayed as the developer becomes swamped by feature requests and duplicate bug reports, and I imagine the problem is far worse for hotly anticipated applications like Things and iGTD 2. I’m sure releasing alpha software results in an initial burst of interest, but I wonder about the long-term benefits.

Which Getting Things Done application to use has been on my mind lately, thanks in large part to the public release of OmniFocus which was closely followed by the iGTD 2 previews and my own Things screencast. With so many good-looking options either available or soon to be available, I’m sure that more people than I have been wondering which app will be right for them. Since I’ve had a chance to use almost all of them, I figured it would be nice to offer a quick general comparison of the available (and pending) options.

There are some similar aspects to all GTD task managers, but I think one of the primary deciding factors whether or not a particular piece of software will work for you is how much structure you need or desire. With that in mind, here’s the GTD software for Mac OS X, ordered from most structured to least: Midnight Inbox, OmniFocus, iGTD, TaskPaper, iGTD 2 (early development), and Things (approaching public preview). If you’re like me and agonize over task managers, then this is a pretty daunting list (and if you count some of the less polished options, it’s nowhere near complete). However, with an eye to structure, I don’t think it is all that difficult to narrow the list down to a couple of applications that you should try. [read more…]

As if the public beta of OmniFocus and a sneak peak of iGTD 2 weren’t enough, I am pleased to reveal the first Tagamac screencast: a preview of an alpha version of Things, the upcoming Getting Things Done application from Cultured Code that uses a tagging system to allow you to get things done your way. Click below to view the screencast in all its glory. I hope you will enjoy it, and I apologize for any bad sound quality. It was an interesting challenge to produce. Please note that although both versions are relatively large, the small one is optimized for viewing on an iPhone (or so says QuickTime). The screencast runs a little over 11 minutes long.

[read more…]

In what is turning into the Weekend of GTD, iGTD’s developer, Bartek Bargiel, has published a first look at the upcoming features in iGTD 2, including a number of short screencasts. Along with a much more stream-lined and understandable interface (at last), iGTD 2 promises tabs for quickly switching between specific task views, a Things-like departure from contexts that uses focuses and tags for sorting tasks, and vastly improved hierarchical project relationships.

This is definitely an exciting teaser for the future of what is currently the top GTD contender (in my opinion; your mileage may vary). iGTD is not without flaws, as I have remarked myself, but iGTD 2 looks like it will be a solid competitor for more polished newcomers to the field like OmniFocus and Things.

This actually has nothing to do with tagging, but since people who like tags and people who like task management often tend to congregate these days, I figured I’d post it. Omni has released a public beta for OmniFocus and is offering it for half the eventual sale price through their online store as a special pre-release sale (introductory price $39.95, regular price will be $79.95; OmniOutliner Pro owners get an additional 25% off).

I can only imagine the conversation at Omni: “Damn it, this project has been sapping our resources with no return for far too long.” “Hey, how about a Christmas bonus? I wanna buy a pony.” “Oh fine, we’ll sell a promise for less than the real thing and you can have your freaking pony.” In any case, while I’m currently hoping that Things will provide my GTD fix, OmniFocus is clearly going to be a standard-setting GTD application and is well worth checking out.

If it wasn’t enough that it’s currently released at an intro price, TaskPaper is on sale November 1, 2007 only at the MacUpdate Promo. If you enjoy managing your to-dos without all the cruft that shows up in so many GTD-based software, TaskPaper may well be the perfect solution for you. I’ve been using it while I waited for iGTD to get updated, and I’m not sure if I’ll go back. TaskPaper is that cool.

For more information, and to download the demo, head over to the MacUpdate Promo page.