|
The summary chart below will help you choose software that fit how you work and think. Below the chart are more detailed overviews of how and why these tools were given their usability ratings.
Software: |
Visual
or Text oriented? |
Easy to
use or Deep? |
Reliability
/ Stability / Maturity |
Learning
Curve |
Categorize and
Search thru data? |
Text-based Tools: | |||||
Zoot | Text |
Deep |
Yes |
Steep |
Powerful |
Brainstorm | Text |
Easy |
Yes - Ver. 3.x |
Not Steep |
N/A: Outliner and "thought assistant" |
OneNote | Both |
Easy |
No |
Not Steep |
? |
ReadyNotes | Text |
Easy |
? |
Not Steep |
Basic |
ADM | Text |
? |
? |
? |
? |
Info Select | Text |
? |
Yes - Ver. 7 |
? |
Powerful |
Ariadne | Both |
Easy |
Yes - Ver. 3 |
Not Steep |
Basic |
AskSam | Both |
Deep |
Yes - Ver. 5.1 |
Moderate |
Powerful search in Pro version at much higher cost |
Personal Knowbase | Text |
Easy |
? - Ver. 2.2 |
? |
Yes |
Informaizer | Text |
Easy |
Yes - Ver. 3.82 |
Not Steep |
Basic |
MyInfo 2 | Text |
? |
? - Ver. 2.6.6 |
? |
? |
MyBase | Text |
? |
Yes - Ver. 4.83 |
? |
Yes |
TreePad | Text |
Easy |
Yes - Ver. 6.53 |
Not Steep |
Yes |
Texnotes | Text |
Easy |
Yes - Ver. 3.5 |
Not Steep |
Yes |
General Knowlege Base | Text |
Easy |
? - Ver. 2.0 |
Not Steep |
Yes |
Infohandler | Text |
Easy |
Yes - Ver. 8.8 |
Not Steep |
Yes |
Ultra Recall | Text |
Easy |
Newer - Vers. 1. 2a |
? |
? |
Visual-based Tools: | - | - | - | - | - |
The brain | Visual |
Easy |
Yes - Ver. 3.0 |
Not Steep |
Moderate - keywords + basic search |
MindManager | Visual |
Easy |
Yes - Ver. 5 |
Not Steep |
Moderate |
Inspiration | Visual |
Easy |
Yes |
Not Steep |
Yes - Basic |
Mindmapper | Visual |
Easy |
No - Ver. 3.5 (Trial copy wouldn't run!) |
Not Steep |
N/A (visual) |
SmartDraw (drawing) | Visual |
Easy |
Yes - Ver. 7 |
Not Steep |
N/A (visual) |
Snag-it (screen
capture) |
Visual |
Easy |
Yes |
Not Steep |
N/A (visual) |
NoteMap | ? |
? |
No - Ver. 1 |
? |
? |
Haystack | Both |
Deep |
No - Under development |
? |
Yes |
FreeMind | Visual |
Easy |
No - open source under development - Java based |
Not Steep |
No |
Axon | Visual |
Easy |
No - ver 2.2 |
? |
? |
File Managers and Content Savers: | - | - | - | - | - |
ContentSaver | Visual |
Easy |
? |
Not Steep |
Yes |
Scopeware Vision | No longer producing or selling this software... |
||||
Everdesk | Text |
Easy |
Yes - Ver. 3.2 |
Not Steep |
Basic |
eGems Collector Pro | Both |
Easy |
? - Ver. 2 |
Not Steep |
? |
Apple / Macintosh Products: | - | - | - | - | - |
Tinderbox | Visual |
Easy |
Version 2 |
Not Steep |
Yes |
OmniOutliner | Text |
Easy |
No - Ver. 2.2 (Known bugs warning
on home page) |
Not Steep |
Basic |
Idea Keeper | Text |
Easy |
? - Ver. 2 |
? |
? |
...visually - you like to see your data in charts, diagrams, mind maps, timelines, photos, visual calendars, etc. - then some software tools that might help you are:
...verbally or textually - you like to capture text and store and read information using sentences, paragraphs, bulleted lists, etc. - then some software tools you might like are:
...easy to use with limited but powerful features (because you never use fancy features anyway):
...feature rich, with lots of powerful tools that you can mess with to exactly fit your working style:
... mature - it that doesn't crash, has a standard/simple, and proven interface, etc.:
...cutting edge - the latest, coolest features, but might have bugs and inconsistencies:
...up and running quickly with the main features. You want productivity right now:
...deeply into your software and are able and willing to brave a longer and steeper learning curve (but with a long-term payoff in productivity):
..fully customized and automated categorizations and powerful searches:
...straightforward, categorizations and fast, simple searches:
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The following people contributed to this document: (Thanks for your contributions!)
This is a continual work in progress. Please e-mail with your thoughts so we can help others find the tools they need to be productive knowledge workers. Your name will be included in the Credits for any contribution you can make. This document first created November 2003. Latest update: July 2005. This document or any information on it may be copied freely. As a courtesy, please reference this site as your source for anything you copy from here. Thank you.