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Zaharenia Atzitzikaki

Review: Mac information managers

I’ve realized I’m the traditional type. When I find something interesting online, say a nice article on typography or an inspirational CSS snippet, I don’t del.icio.us it: I want to save it locally.

That, and the fact that I amass a huge amount of information over the day, led me to search for what you essentially would call a PIM (Personal Information Manager) of sorts, to keep it all organized. I’ve tested Yojimbo, Soho Notes and Together which I feel are three top contenders on the Mac. But I feel Together has the most to offer. Here’s why:

1. Drag and Drop

I love the ability of dragging and dropping stuff to a shelf on the edge of the screen, instantly saving them. All three apps offer this kind of functionality, but I found that Together’s approach felt more fluid. Yojimbo on the other hand didn’t fare so well. I wasn’t able to import images directly to my library, for example.

2. Just the right features

Soho Notes is so, so bloated. It is full of features I never use (Contact Manager anyone?). It sure does what I want (and a ton more), but it has a tendency to be very slow. Together on the other hand keeps its featureset lean and focused on information gathering.

3. Intuitiveness

Together is intuitive. I love its Portrait Preview pane. It supports nested folders, tags, smart folders, all kinds of notes and snippets, and it’s very lightweight and fast to boot.

So…

If you’re on a Mac in the lookout for a nice, simple and effective PIM application which supports .Mac syncing, download Together and give it a go. I’m sold.

end of article

4 Comments

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Rich...!
19 July 2008, 20:28 ( Permalink )

Have you considered Evernote?

Zaharenia Atzitzikaki
20 July 2008, 07:15 ( Permalink )

Until Evernote learns to clip properly pages with their CSS styles, I won’t ever consider it.

Alex Schleifer
20 July 2008, 14:14 ( Permalink )

I’m personally completely infatuated with Evernote. It needs to get some richer clipping and editing tools (and sharing, please) but it just works for me.

Dimitriadis Dimitris
12 August 2008, 08:55 ( Permalink )

i use LaterLoop with ScrapBook support to save pages and folders to manage my saves. But the Sync with MobileMe and Automate with AppleScript is killer characteristics for me. I will try Together asap.

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About the author:
Zaharenia Atzitzikaki
Web Developer, Phaistos Networks
Zaharenia works as a Web Developer for Phaistos Networks, in sunny Crete, Greece. Her limited free time is split between her blog, designing for the web and writing for the greek edition of PC Magazine.
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Review: Mac information managers

Thursday July 17, 2008 by Zaharenia Atzitzikaki

I’ve realized I’m the traditional type. When I find something interesting online, say a nice article on typography or an inspirational CSS snippet, I don’t del.icio.us it: I want to save it locally.

That, and the fact that I amass a huge amount of information over the day, led me to search for what you essentially would call a PIM (Personal Information Manager) of sorts, to keep it all organized. I’ve tested Yojimbo, Soho Notes and Together which I feel are three top contenders on the Mac. But I feel Together has the most to offer. Here’s why:

1. Drag and Drop

I love the ability of dragging and dropping stuff to a shelf on the edge of the screen, instantly saving them. All three apps offer this kind of functionality, but I found that Together’s approach felt more fluid. Yojimbo on the other hand didn’t fare so well. I wasn’t able to import images directly to my library, for example.

2. Just the right features

Soho Notes is so, so bloated. It is full of features I never use (Contact Manager anyone?). It sure does what I want (and a ton more), but it has a tendency to be very slow. Together on the other hand keeps its featureset lean and focused on information gathering.

3. Intuitiveness

Together is intuitive. I love its Portrait Preview pane. It supports nested folders, tags, smart folders, all kinds of notes and snippets, and it’s very lightweight and fast to boot.

So…

If you’re on a Mac in the lookout for a nice, simple and effective PIM application which supports .Mac syncing, download Together and give it a go. I’m sold.