Two essential upgrades
Modern PC software is often a work in progress. Just as you’ve
mastered an application and found ways to work around its quirks,
an upgrade comes along fixing the problems. Developers frequently
add new features; introducing new quirks and new workarounds. And
just to complicate matters there are regular security updates and
patches.
Desktop PC applications evolve at breakneck speed but web
applications change at a faster rate. The main difference between
the two types is that you can easily choose not to update a PC
application you’ve fine-tuned to perfection; with web-based
software you are force marched to the updated version. Sometimes
this can be good.
Two of my favourite productivity applications went through
significant updates last year. The web-based Remember the Milk
(RTM, http://www.rememberthemilk.com)
implemented a long list of new features and went through a big
redesign while the desktop-based Evernote (www.evernote.com) made some useful
incremental changes and developed a portable version designed to
work with USB memory devices.
In simple terms RTM, which last featured in this column in
October 2006, is an online to-do list manager. Moving to-do lists
online means they can be integrated with maps, pictures, digital
calendars, personal information managers, mobile phones and just
about everything else that’s web-enabled.
The basic version of the Australian-developed application
remains free but there’s a $US25 ($28.35) Pro version that has
priority support and the ability to synch to Windows Mobile
devices. There are special versions of the application for iPhone
and iPod touch users and a version that integrates with Gmail.
RTM works online with Mac OS X gadgets, Google gadgets and Yahoo
Widgets.
As well as developing a portable edition, the Evernote note
capturing application has been upgraded so it can recognise text
inside digital images. This means you can photograph something with
your mobile phone camera, then store and index the information in
an Evernote database.
