ToDo X 2.1 and more — Thoughts on ToDo and other useful tools for stashing and accessing stuff I use while I work        

reviewed by Harry {doc} Babad, November 2006

Adapted from the Publisher’s Summary

ToDo X is a native Cocoa to-do list application for Mac OS X. Its user interface is deliberately, almost ruthlessly simplified, yet it provides plenty of power under the hood. It allows you to maintain multiple, prioritized lists of to-do items, each with unlimited attached notes. The list and notes can contain clickable links to web locations, documents, folders and address book entries. You can link items to multiple lists and use drag & drop to copy, link or move items between lists. You can search, display or print the union (combined set) of selected lists. You have instant access to your to-do lists from the dock or the menu bar. Last but not least, you can create a to-do item from selected text in any application that supports the Services menu.

ToDo X can import from iCal, from other Mac or Windows applications that generate .ics files, and from the classic Mac OS desk accessory “ToDo!”

Introduction

I’m using DEVONnote as my primary place for storage of odds and ends of information [March 2006macC review.] I however, have lived without a ToDo tool for about ten months and decided that not using a stand-along ToDo list was a mistake. I guess either being 70 years old and getting smarter, or in weak moments agreeing to too many “yes I’ll do that for you…” has caused me to have a minor case of ToDo overload. Part of the problem is that I usually document these To-Dos on scraps of paper that I shove into my shirt pocket or in the margins of meeting agendas — such a system!

I went back as far back as August 2004 and checked almost bakers half-dozen of my earlier checklist software reviews. I decided to again work with Kelvin Delbarre product still it seemed most suited to my present needs. Since I have no need but to track the items I promised folks, or to do myself, I was following the Keep It Simple, Stupid [KISS] rule. Although ToDo X has more features than I need right now. But I was and still am comfortable with its interface and the extra capabilities remained invisible to me, until I might need them.

As noted in my earlier reviews, there are alternatives to using specifically focused and to-do or checklist software but almost none either met my specific needs or temperament. Why temperament you ask? Simple, if you don’t automatically reach for a software tool to capture your ideas or action lists, it doesn’t happen. I remain convinced, for most of us, no matter how many bells and whistles a product provides, it does will not serve your needs.

As a result, I’ve never taken to either highly touted sophisticated calendar and Personal Information Manager [PIM] based tools. After all, all I want to do is find places to stash and heretically organize my stuff and to list my to-dos. [E.g., Bookmarks, software tips, focused vendor lists, focused organized web links, magazine subscription data, shareware SNs, or a graphic or two].

Working With

To install the application, simply copy it to the Applications folder on your hard disk (or to another location if you prefer). To uninstall, drag it to the Trash. I prefer to use AppZapper for deinstalls, but had I done that for the earlier version I tested, I would have lost its SN, stored in it preference file, and would have had to reenter it. [Much to my surprise my old ToDo lists were still there, but of course I’m well beyond all those now.]

The software provides a simple to-do list metaphor with a clean, easy to use interface. It has the ability to create Color-coded priorities and provides you with unlimited attached notes. The individual To-do items can be linked to multiple lists (categories). You can Display, search or print items from selected lists, with ease, and after all it’s a Macintosh product.

It is easy to define you list categories, think of them a task specific buckets or folders. However, I suggest that you check out the preferences pane first and pick you working mode. I’m finding on screen font size maters more these days than a few years ago.

Most importantly you need to take a minute or two to define the categories into which you’d like to post your things to do reminders. I found that a pencil and paper work well for this, especially if I do this an item at a time over a day or two. I find it results in less shuffling and tweaking later. Who reads endlessly long lists anyway? So KISS and make up!

This time I kept it simple by limiting my self to three items. (1) Things I promised people, (2) ideas for article on music or Macintosh, and (3) items to chase when I get to them. Previously, I’d used a baker’s dozen categories including shopping lists, which when I discovered them again, I found to be mostly empty of notes. As an aside, since my wife doesn’t use the computer, we still do grocery list on paper; the computer is in my office and the grocery list is in the kitchen. All the other pack-rat stuff goes into DEVONnote.

The product’s help menu accesses the developer’s web site to links and additional information, including release notes and answers to frequently asked questions. The product’s developer excellent FAQ also defines its hidden details, all but one of which most users will not need.

Finally, an item of importance, if you back up items individually is that ToDo X currently saves your to-do list in its preferences file, com.nomicro.ToDo.plist.

Basic Feature and the Newly Updated Features

For a more detailed overview of the product’s many features check out my previous review of version 1.9.1 [January 2006, Volume 4 Issue 1]. In my earlier review I describe the software’s rich features and provide a more detailed description of them. Built-in, but not changed, features include the ability to Linking ToDo X Items, tools for Searching ToDo X, enabling easy Drag and Drop, and an interactive spelling-checking feature.

Now in version 2.1, document margins used in printing can be changed, and page headers and footers can be suppressed. Selecting ToDo from the Settings pop-up menu in Page accesses these preferences

Setup. You can now also import a to-do list from a text file, as described in the

Help file. And from my point of view, a feature I did not miss until I read about it. Holding down the command key while launching a URL will cause it to be launched in the background.

Conclusions

This is very nice, clean, unobtrusive app that I can access from either my menu bar or my dock! It remains extremely simple to use and although feature rich, I can use only those that are really essential to my needs. After all, as a shareware reviewer I continuously find new toys that with which I sometimes replace the tools I already use. But, often, after a while, the new grows old and I go back to an old favorite such as To Do X, now version 2.1.

Unlike many shareware developers, based on the products release notes and my personal experience, its developer takes and active interest in maintaining and upgrading the features of the fine product.

I agree with the MacUpdate reviewer 2005 named Anonymous — “This little gem keeps getting better and better! It was always 100% reliable, and I relied heavily on it even before, but the developer has fixed a couple of minor inconveniences and made it even stronger. Now I cannot find anything wrong with it, minor or otherwise. The shareware cost was an insignificantly tiny price to pay for something so valuable to my productivity.”

Buy it! Trust your to-dos to this clean, unobtrusive application. It is extremely simple to use and just contains the features that are essential to its function. Feature-itus for its own sake, take heed Microsoft, is completely absent. I’m still not sure I want to use the product to replace my simple PandoCalendar X 6.0.4, but if you were importing items into use staying synchronized would be easy.

I rate this product 4.5 macCs. Why so low? Well, I don’t believe in perfection.