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James Fallows on Mac thinking tools

Mac Programs That Come With Thinking Caps On - New York Times

_The Atlantic_'s James Fallows -- who also wrote one of my favorite pieces on The David -- has done a piece for the New York Times_ on the various "thinking tools" for the Mac. He covers all the goodies, including Devonthink, Tinderbox, Circus Ponies Notebook, AquaMinds NoteTaker, and my current steady date, OmniOutliner Pro (including a nice shoutout to Ethan's _amazing Kinkless GTD for OO).

These programs are of obvious interest to the Mac community, but the much larger community of non-Mac users also has good reason to keep an eye on them. Some are simply better than their current Word counterparts, illustrating features and approaches that PC users will want once they have seen them. The companies making two of the programs discussed here have announced forthcoming Windows versions.

Others may follow next year, when Apple Computer begins producing Macs based on Intel processing chips like those that PC's use. That change will make it easier for software vendors to create both Mac and PC versions of their programs; the introduction of the Mac mini, discussed here two months ago, makes it easier and more practical for users to switch back and forth between platforms.

[ Thanks, Brian Oberkirch ]

clembo's picture

Re shtikl's comments: Nisus Writer Express,...

Re shtikl's comments:

Nisus Writer Express, Omni Graffle / Outliner and Devonthink make a really sweet combo for me. With Devonthink I drag files that would be all over the place on my machine (it's even less tidy than my desk if that is possible) and there they are filed ready to search. I find I end up searching for data and not just to find files.

I regularly back up the data and hold offsite. It stays open on my second screen when I'm working and I can cut and paste data or read references from inside one application. I've never had this kind of thing before. Awsome.

 
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