Anyone know of a stand-alone PIM that is good? I don't
need any
I like Ecco Pro, which in spite of the name has a free version.
http://www.compusol.org/ecco/
and look for Free version 4.01.
Chakolate
Ecco Pro is not freeware but abandonware. It is probably the
most powerful and intricate PIM ever unleashed. I use it. It
seems to even work nicely with the Palm software used on my
Handspring PDA. In addition to the previous poster's web
link, it is also available on the last publisher's web site
(Netmanage).
Some of this program's features include the ability to move
appointments from one day to the another in a flash and the
ability to add an outline to just about anything, such as an
appointment or a phone entry. There are, of course, as many
separate outlines as you could want.
Although a lot of the program functions seamlessly, basic
settings of the program are maddening, illogical, and
confusing. Sometimes, you can't set a default, or when you
managed to do it, you can't change it. The most troublesome
part of the software, for me, is printing a calendar. A
shame, because it comes with around 60 different calendar
templates, plus you can create your own. For example, I have
set up a calendar to print for my wall and another foldout
for my Day-Timer binder.
The program had, and still has, a following as tenacious as
the people who still stick with the XyWrite DOS word
processor. There are good reasons for this. ECCO received
rave reviews and was considered the ultimate PIM for a few
years. It went through some changes rapidly, including the
sale from the original small publisher in Oregon to
NetManage, a company that's really in a different bysiness.
With a bright, rosy beginning like that, a cult following,
and sales that were assured, NetManage just quashed the
entire product. This makes absolutely no business sense
whatever, but that's what happened. To their credit,
NetManage has kept the product available on their site so
that their former customers can download replacement copies
if they need to. Some FAQs are still there, too. I suspect
that they don't care if anyone helps themselves to their own
copy.
I really would not mind paying them for an upgrade and
especially if the default management would be improved. This
is a real puzzle.
You can try it and you may indeed become addicted to it. I
do not yet know if it will work with XP or not because this
is Win 95-era progamming. It does work fine under W98 and
WMe. It helps if you have some affinity for tweaking your
software since this program, although friendly in most
respects, is not for the faint of heart.
Richard
