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.
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.
posted by Evolve at
10:03 PM
