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iGTD's Bartek Bargiel joins Cultured Code, Things 1.2 hits the streets
I have very fond memories of iGTD, and of its sole developer, Bartek Bargiel. The much-anticipated iGTD2 never really reached fruition, much to our dismay. There are a good number of people still using iGTD and iGTD2 today, even after development ceased quite some time ago, and I'd wager that anyone who used it probably has pretty nice things to say. I'd heard from Bartek a couple of times over the years, but I got caught by surprise when I heard the news today: he's joined up with Cultured Code, and worked some of my favorite features of good ol' iGTD into the latest release of Things for Mac (1.2). See what's new and brush up on your keyboard shortcuts at the Cultured Code blog. iGTD users and former users will probably recall the F-key trick; the one that grabbed whatever you had highlighted in most apps and popped it into the quick-entry window. While the OmniFocus clipper is quite capable, if this is as good as iGTD's was, it's going to be a killer feature. Bartek has also contributed Quicksilver, Launchbar and Google Quick Search Box plugins to the party. It's great to see Cultured Code catering to us keyboard geeks, and I personally just got way more into Things. If you did some donating to the development of iGTD back in the day, there's an additional surprise headed for your inbox. Cultured Code and Bartek have promised free licenses to everyone who donated to iGTD, and multiple licenses if the amount of your donations exceeds the value of a Things license. Things retails for $49.95US, so that's a pretty good return. Plus, they've set up data migration for current iGTD users to make the switch to Things. I'm checking out the latest version right now, so until I have a full review out, I'd just like to say congratulations to Bartek, and to Cultured Code!
iGTD2 showing promise
You may recall iGTD, which we covered last year. Up until some Leopard difficulties forced me to start flailing between not-quite-ready GTD applications, I was a loyal user. And yes, those Leopard difficulties could have been solved, but the author had his hands full with reincarnating iGTD -- as iGTD2. iGTD2 is in alpha right now, and not what I'd consider to be trustworthy for daily use, but it provides a peek into the thoughts behind the revamp. Whereas the original iGTD started out fairly simple and grew increasingly complex in response to user requests, iGTD2 is starting out quite robust and tries to get a grasp on what people really want out of their task managers. But, like the original, flexibility is built into the system. This time around, the authors developed a set of "principles" to guide development and make a simpler task of creating a new UI. Some of the principles are quite simple: a need for tabs, a hatred of inspector palettes, and the need for more mouse-friendliness. Some of the ideas, though, are a little more rebellious against the standards of GTD and delve into new ways of approaching task organization and, well, getting things done. Tags, focuses, nesting tasks and other UI developments allow for flexibility beyond what you'd expect from a GTD app. This kind of flexibility might be annoyingly overwhelming for new users. If you're looking for a simple UI and straightforward task manager, this probably won't be it. But if you've ever craved the ability to archive links and notes and then attach whole groups of them to projects and tasks, iGTD2 is moving in the right direction. As of this writing, the iGTD2 alpha is on its 9th build, with major changes happening almost every day. This one is worth keeping an eye on, especially as a donationware offering that will likely rival the power of some of the commercial applications in the field. The alpha is available for download and there's a forum for user input. If you're curious, check it out!
