Personal Information Manager (PIM) Software
Every so often a good company's bad luck is our good fortune. Ecco Pro was an award-winning PIM in its days as a commercial product. But competition from Microsoft Outlook caused its owner, NetManage, to stop developing it further in 1997. Now, the software is free to download and use.
Surprisingly, you can even get technical support for Ecco Pro, because those who used the software liked it so much they still use it, and congregate in a forum on Yahoo! Groups. There you'll find not only links to the software itself but advice, tips on using it effectively, FAQs on a variety of technical support issues and instruction materials.
Ecco Pro has held up well for several reasons. First, no other PIM really works the way it does. It's based around outlines, but these are quite sophisticated, as any item can be assigned to more than one outline. The upshot is that you have many ways of linking the same data: all the people you worked with on a particular project, all the dealings you've had with a particular person, and so on. Second, one of the last NetManage developments was to add a conduit for the then-fledgling Palm. Therefore, Palm users can synchronise contacts, schedules and notes with Ecco Pro quite easily.
If you use a Pocket PC, a little extra expenditure on Laplink's PDASync will give you an extra option. PDASync is also disappearing software, but you can find copies around the Net via eBay or the occasional download store that still has it.
