Word 2004 as an Outliner

Having discovered 43Folders recently, I have been trying out various OS X outliners for use as a GTD tool. Some of the tools I tried out are:

1. OmniOutliner 3 (commercial, $39.95)
2. MyMind (free)
3. IdeaKnot (free)
4. FreeMind (Okay, this is more of a mind mapping tool than an outliner, but works equally well)

OmniOutliner seems to be best of the pack, when it comes to core outlining. With a slew of features, shortcuts and formatting options - it definitely is the leader here. However, it is also an overkill for my needs. However, the other tools do not have the great UI feel that OmniOutliner provides.

Fortunately, I happened to try out outlining in Word 2004's Notebook view, and it is just what the doctor ordered! The view provides pretty much the same ease of creating and maintaining the outline, and the added advantage of using all of Word's formatting is always there. Heck, it even provides a Checkbox for maintaining a to-do list in this view!

Oh, did I mention that you can convert each entry into an Entourage task?

So what is missing? For one, the ability to create multiple columns (as in OmniOutliner) is not present. OPML export/import does not exist, nor does summary computations. However, for most of my day to day use, the tool suffices.

If you happen to have a copy of Word 2004 for Mac, and are interested in GTD task-lists, you may want to try out this tool available on your disk before committing on a Third party commercial tool.

Ten favorite OS X utilities

With every Mac blogger listing their favorite apps these days, thought I should jot down my own as well.

1. QuickSilver - Application launcher and much more!


2. Desktop Manager - Get multiple desktops on OS X


3. Meteorologist - Current weather on your desktop


4. SlimBatteryMonitor - A slimmer version of the battery status monitor for iBook or PowerBook


5. SubEthaEdit - Context aware text editor with collaborative features


6. MacJournal - Another text editor with blog-upload and journal capabilities


7. CleanArchiver - A free zip tool


8. NewsMac - RSS feed reader


9. MacStumbler - WiFi network detection tool


10. Witch - Fast Window Switcher

All the apps are free and pretty stable. I might get around to jotting down mini-reviews for each some time. Let me know about your favorites!

A /switch Story

OK. In the beginning, there was a PC. Large, powerful, and slow. And it did get most of the work done - even though most of the stuff took forever. And never mind the daily updates for Antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-everything just to keep it alive and kicking.

And then came the iBook. Small, cute - the wife loved it. No more coffee breaks while the computer was booting up, bo more coffee breaks while it was shutting down (hey, no need to even shutdown! Just close the LCD top and it would go to sleep!)

The PC is still around, gathering dust, and hoping for an early retirement via EBay. Well, once in a while, it still gets the updates, and Minesweeper still gets the limelight - but it can no more intimidate!

OatMac is alive!

Welcome!

I have been chewing on the idea of a blog on my new found love for Macs over the past few days, and finally decided to take the plunge. Being an avid shareware/freeware junky, I thought it might be a good idea to start sharing news and views on some of the stuff I keep checking out.

So here it is!