PIM's and Where We Are Today by Dan Butler

I have a love hate relationship with Personal Information Manager (PIM) software. On the one hand I find them really handy. Then I go through a period where I'm not at the computer every day and everything falls apart. In this little series I'll talk about a few PIM's I use - and the ones I avoid. Keep in mind that I'm not the most time oriented person on the planet. I haven't worn a watch for years and only recently started carrying a calendar again.

I've looked at just about every PIM out there at one time or another. One tool I continue to return to is Ecco Pro. Why? It just let's me get in there and get things done quickly and flexibly. The only thing I have to watch for is making things too complex, something I have a real penchant for doing. The fact that it runs on my Linux box under Wine makes it that much nicer.

The basic metaphor in Ecco is the outline. You enter your items as outlines and assign them to columns. Columns can be dates, lists, times, and just about anything else you want to specify. The key is you are not locked into how someone else's idea of how your information should be stored. And it's easy and quick to make different views of your information.

You can download Ecco Pro for free now. It hasn't been updated in a few years, since 1997 to be exact, but Netmanage is making it available for free. If you decide to download be aware that Ecco has a fairly steep learning curve. Once you get the hang of it you'll have a fast flexible tool for handling your information and quick projects.

Does Ecco sound like something you might want to try? Here is where to find it.

The files and folders at this location will give you the entire
ECCO distribution CD-ROM. Just download the directory with your favorite FTP program then burn it onto a CD-ROM. You can use your CD exactly as you would the original install CD:

ftp://ftp.netmanage.com/support/pub/utilities/EC401/

If you just want to try the program all you need is the file "Setup32.exe" from here:

ftp://ftp.netmanage.com/support/pub/utilities/EC401/Ecco32/

The documentation, user notes, tutorials and tech notes are here:

ftp://ftp.netmanage.com/support/pub/utilities/EC401/Doc/

If you downloaded everything and burned a CD you already have everything you need.

After you play with the program a bit have a look at the EccoPro group at Yahoo!Groups (groups.yahoo.com). Especially helpful are the old back issues of Easy Ecco showing actual uses of the product. EccoRocks is a helpful website with pointers to more information:

http://www.eccorocks.com/

Next issue I'll tell you about a couple of other tools in my PIM toolbox.

(c) 2002, Dan Butler
You can reach Dan Butler at:
danbutler@TheNakedPC.com