Finished install and allowed program to open but before that happened I received this error message on all 3 machines I installed it on.


The task data file cannot be read!
You can restore it easily. Go to tools menu and select "Restore Tasks".
Then go to C:\program files\Smart to Do\backups & choose the latest file


BUT !! No backup directory!! No “restore tasks” on the tools menu !! Also couldn't find a print option and the export feature that "Help" says should be under the tools menu, is not there either.
So if you use multiple computers at multiple locations as I do, this is not going to be very helpful unless you like to do manual updates and have a terrific memory (can’t print, remember).

Downloaded, installed. The program isn't exactly bad, but it does very little. The look is a matter of taste, but IMHO SmartToDo does look pretty nice. I have been using Windows Calendar, it's a great app (for you XP freaks, you can get it with Windows Live Mail from get.live.com ;-) ), I can manage everything I need to, I can even sync the calendar to my iPod. Actually I tried this giveaway just because I thought I might need something simpler for daily task management, but apparently it's more like a stripped-down calendar software. I'd suggest the devs to either turn it into a full calendar or even PIM software, or make use of how compact the program is, for example, by making it freeware or making it portable, or both. By now - little use, sorry.

I'll pass on today's software. My to-do lists live on the refridgerator door, but I really need a sophisticated version of something like this software.

Apologies for getting off topic, but this is related to this type of software and I'm in desperate need of help and where better to find it than amongst fellow software junkies. I've combed the web and tried several trial versions of software and cannot find anything to solve my problem.

I have a mountain of research data and need some sort of information management system. I need something like Google Desktop Indexer, but it throws up too much junk and it is too difficult to sift through it all to find what you need. I want to be able to manually choose (preferably through a right click context menu)what is indexed and what is not. I need to be able to cross reference the same piece of information under several different keyword searches and have it present the results in an easily accessed manner including thumbnails of images. I don't want to have to install a server for PHP on my system or use a paid online database.

I don't want something that moves the data out of My Documents folders and sticks it into its own proprietry database with its own file extension. All I need is a sophisticated indexer for my hard drive which allows me to choose each piece of information that is included in the index and I need to be able to attache notes which appear as a pop-up or tooltip, to files as a quick reference or thought helper.

So far Remlap Knowledge Base is the closest thing to what I need, but it creates its own database instead of just linking to files already on my system. Zotero looks after my bibliography only, and not the data contained in its references. I'm a poverty stricken writer, so the top end business knowledge management systems are beyond my wallet and really are overkill for my needs. I will pay a fair sum for software that does the job well. There must be thousands of researchers out there who need the same sort of software. Can anybody please suggest something else that might solve my problem?

Further, after I did an uninstall and later in the day rebooted, realized it did not do a clean uninstall. Removed all the icons, but left the files and registry entries. This was in Windows XP Pro. This kind of behavior on a program makes it even less then desirable.

I dl this last time and love it. Is a great 'helper' for my daily use for reminder like thing to do,advance birthday reminders etc. "Not everyone will love rice" Some may find it useful some may find it too simple. Really surprise to see so many 'thumb down' voting these days for even some really great software offered. Thank you to all the contributors and GOTD for making this happen. :)

Downloaded and installed, was not really impressed with the software, especially the interface. I am also thinking that integration into stuff other software I am using is really the way to go instead of a standalone.

R

It seems to be a nice little program, but I don't see the advantage over outlook, in fact it is just about the same.

27 snowd - have you tried rolling back your computer's system date? This might let you enter your historical data and then you could reset the date back to today. I am passing on the software today so I can't guarantee this will help but it's worth a try. Like you, I do like to keep a historical record of what I have been doing.

Checking these offerings is part of my daily routine. I may only download once or twice a month but I do appreciate the opportunity provided by GAOTD and the developers to try many different types of programs for free.

Thanks,

Lonni

Hey 'The Voter', you're making a good point (MY point to be exact).

Everyone can have an opinion how the votes have to be interpreted, as do the people who do the voting.
But there is only one way how the votes are going to be interpreted and used accordingly, very much independed of the individual opinions and likes.
It is only a sane way of thinking to accept that as the reallity and make use of that.

Ghee, I have a Theorem named after me; Phytagoras did so too.-LOL-
But it is really a general truth too!

@Giovanni, #17:
An alternate suggestion would be 'BrainGel's voting Theorem':

"@ all & esp. #29 (GIOVI 69); #31 (M.); #34(prying1):

I agree that there is no sane interpretation from the voting system as many reasons come together in one votingcount whithout any means of discriminating between them.
Some vote te reflect there personal needs, others to express the technical state of the software and yet others vote just because they feel like doing so and so on.

But the votings will be used though and with that in mind you will know what the only right way is to vote! You just have to ask yourself how the votings will be used whatever the meaning might be as intended; that is the secret of knowing the only and true meaning.
As you know for sure now the votings are to be used with X-mass.
If you want to see the software offered again with X-mass, you better help it to a high voting-score and if you certainly do not want to see the offer back with X-mass give it a thumbs down!

Hope this is helpfull.

Comment by BrainGel [#40]— January 24th, 2009 at 3:36 pm "

I downloaded Smart ToDo and tried it, but couldn't find any way to enter tasks before the current date. So is not helpful for a history and that's what I'm looking for.

What I am need is a simple program to type in my old hand-written appointment books so that I can search them electronically. They are not very detailed and I only need a blank page for each date, not even with times on the dates. I could just use a text editor, but I'd like one with calendars to be able to click on the date and open up the page. And I'd like it to have a find function for any words. The recent GAOTD program Leader Task is overkill for what I need. Same for programs like the freeware EssentialPIM. It would also be nice to have the data stored as a text file or in html format, so it would be searchable by other programs. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

I have been visiting this site for quite some time now and I usually download the software and decide whether it is suitable to my particular needs. I sometimes decide not to download the software if the program is similar to one I am already happy with, and yes, once in a while by reading the comments and respecting the knowledge of other users who have reviewed and provided a detailed description, such as Fubar and Ashraf. The question after the comment is "did you find this comment useful"? It does not ask you if you like (thumbs up) or don't like (thumbs down) the product. I read all of the comments and vote on whether they are useful to me in the decision to download or not, and I appreciate the evaluations, as well as the problems that are mentioned especially when I am having a similar problem with downloading. The voting system does not make my decision. Consider the fact that as far as the YES and NO calculations go, a negative number is a number that is less than zero, such as −3. A positive number is a number that is greater than zero, such as 3, because the voting numbers are constantly changing whether absolute or not, I do not find a problem with accuracy, I am sure GAOTD is using the proper formula.
Thanks GAOTD, you have become part of my day.

Seems to me that MS Outlook possesses these same features. Can't imagine why I'd want to add another manager program when I've got a functional system in Outlook.

Do you need to uninstall the previous GAOTD version 1.8 prior to installing this version? Will it update or will you now have two versions? Guess I could just try and see what happens. Thanks for all the great products, but even more, thanks for all the great advice from your "power users" like Ashraf, Fubar and Giovanni - oops, almost forgot BuBBy, too!!

#17 and others who hate the rating system on GOTD: Lighten up. Most of us (even us OLD folks, #5) are intelligent enough to figure out pretty quickly that the voting is seriously skewed by those who take a look at the day's offering and, for no reason other than it isn't what they were hoping to find, give it a thumbs down. I stopped paying attention to it - except for amusement - after the first couple of times I visited the site. As for the comments, I find them informative and funny. I wouldn't like to see them limited to people with a code. Another CODE? Come on, just getting the programs activated is work enough isn't it? Some of us already own the products or have recently tried them or know something about the reliability of the company. Why shouldn't we be able to add our bits of wisdom to the pile?

Today's giveaway? I never download programs with big huge toolbars. I hate them taking up all that space BUT that is a personal preference so I won't say so here :)

I LOVE this already. I have been looking for this simple tool for a while. All I need is a very simple, flexible to-do list, and this is it. Everything else that I looked at was in the PIM category which did far more than I needed and was complicated to learn, and cluttered looking with all the options available, including calendars and email options. This is very intuitive and does exactly what I need--basic to do list, categorized by tabs, and I can break down each list into as many steps as I want, without needing to put in completion dates, priority, reminder alarms (though I could use them with this program if I wanted). For me, this is just what I needed, so thanks a bunch.

Oh, I have Vista Home and it works perfect on it. No trouble to install--though it did give a message that a file was not available, along with telling me how to get the file back. But I did not have to do that, because as soon as it opened, everything worked.

I absolutely agree with Giavanni (#17, above).

No one who hasn't tried the program should be able to comment on it!

"In my humble view it would be a great idea if the VOTING SYSTEM could be limited just to people who have actually downloaded and tried the GAOTD, for instance giving them a CODE once downloaded it".


Bill

#14

A personal information manager (often referred to as a PIM tool or, more simply, a PIM) is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. The acronym PIM is now, more commonly, used in reference to Personal information management as a field of study.

As an information management tool, PIM applications are primarily used to facilitate the recording, tracking, and management of certain types of "personal information". Personal information can include any of the following:

* Personal notes/journal
* Address books
* Lists (including task lists)
* Significant calendar dates
o Birthdays
o Anniversaries
o Appointments and meeting
* Reminders
* Email, instant message archives
* Fax communications, voicemail
* Project management features
* RSS/Atom feeds
* Alerts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_information_manager#Personal_Information_Manager

Perfect....just what I was looking for.
A Simple to do lister that has a Reminder, It will work perfect for future appointments that sometimes I forget that I made.
Will be checking it out.

Perfect for those of use that don't need the Pro version of software that comes with all the bells and whistles that never get used.

Thanks GGOTD and Virtuoza Software,

The only downside is the price as I believe that half that would be more reasonable for such a software considering what is available for free that does the same thing and sometimes more.

Installed well on Windows 2000. Smart To-Do is actually fairly good. I like the fact that this program supports many features when creating a task, such as an option to input a due date. I also liked the ability to create your own categories.

You can also create your own tabs, filing your lists accordingly. When a task is selected, you can either view an attachment if one is attached, or view the details of the task. You can also sort by category. I tested the reminder window, which worked fine. The tray balloon worked to, but it was a little small.

I think this program will be fairly good at reminding me about schoolwork.

Hi all!!

82% for this GAOTD is sinply RIDICULOUS because in my humble view SMART TO DO 2.4 is not a bad SW.

Of course it lacks a huge amount of features that other PIM usually have but it is vey simple and easy to use, suitable for ordinary PC USERS who just want simple to-do lists and are not too much demanding.

Now, since I don't think that this FORUM is attended by many full-time MANAGERS or BUSINESSMEN who are very busy indeed and need more then just simple to-do lists, I have the feeling that people have given 82% down for this GAOTD because affected by the first misleading comment published on this forum according to which this product does not support VISTA (I'm not VISTA USER but I trust FUBAR's comment...LOL!!).

All the more reason to slam the GAOTD USER VOTING SYSTEM once again.

As I already said over the past few days I srongly believe that it should be necessary to have actually TRIED the program before given it a rating but unfortunately many people here vote the GAOTD according to their PERSONAL NEEDS rather than to its features, so if they don't need it they give one or more THUMBS DOWN to the program, regardless of its real value and usefulness.

In my humble view it would be a great idea if the VOTING SYSTEM could be limited just to people who have actually downloaded and tried the GAOTD, for instance giving them a CODE once downloaded it.

The result would be a far more accurate picture of how GOOD or BAD the GAOTD actually is, as misleading BAD RATINGS actually may affect the quality of the (future) programs offered here on the long term because the flawed rating system could discourage the best software developers from offering their products here as I guess that they do not like to get beat up with lots of unfair thumbs down (most of visitors here make up their mind just by watching the GAOTD USER RATING of the program rather than reading the comments published in the forum).

As matters stand, if I were a (serious) COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE DEVELOPER, I wouldn't embrace GOTD as a medium for advertising my product whatsoever, giving its licence to GAOTD's visitors for FREE, since most of the times the products here are rated by people who didn't even try them (and in fact it's not an accident that all programs offered here on a daily basis have often been already given away only a couple of months ago).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, as for the FREEWARE ALTERNATIVES, besides those rightly mentioned by ASHRAF and others here, I would add:


- Memorex
- Unforgiven Organizer
- Total Organizer Free
- EasyNoter 3.7


If I were in your shoes I’d definitely try EasyNoter 3.7, a powerful user-friendly Personal Information Manager resembling a real-world organizer encased in a beautiful "leather" cover with built-in LCD clock that also displays the date.

http://www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/easynote.htm


With this pretty cool tool you can jot down notes (Notes section), addresses (Address section), daily duties (Diary), photographs (Photo Album) or pop up reminders (Reminder section) so that you can add documents, links and even images to your notes.

The Reminder facility is greatly improved (it can even be used to run external programs at given time intervals) allowing users to apply for single, hourly, weekly, monthly or yearly reminders for many years ahead, with cool little options, that this GAOTD does not have, such as:

- the ALARMS FEATURE, which can take the form of a traditional "bleep" (but you can also record a customized sound or even launch an external application...LOL!!).

- the ability to launch 4 user-definable applications using an in-built quick-launch bar and a handy photo album for storing images of your choice.


Did I say that it's FREE?? LOL!!



FULL REVIEW of this little (and pretty unknown) GEM here:


h ttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2128266/easynoter-lite

(remove space at beginning)


As you can see there is also an even more powerful PRO version (worth $29.95) with some additional features (double page text, spell checker, password protection etc...), but if you need a professional Personal Information Manager look no further: the FREEWARE EasyNoter LITE VERSION is an impressive tool that does its job pretty well and in style.


Cheers

Giovanni

LeaderTask 6.1 was given here a few days ago making this a redundant, useless waste of space for anyone who downloaded the above mentioned give away last week.
Besides, the way I understand it, this developer seems to have abandoned his/her projects. That makes the 50% off offer on the supposedly better program a possible rip off!
I pass with a thumbs down today!

Hi all!!

82% for this GAOTD is sinply RIDICULOUS because in my humble view SMART TO DO 2.4 is not a bad SW.

Of course it lacks a huge amount of features that other PIM usually have but it is vey simple and easy to use, perfect for ordinary PC USERS who just want simple to-do lists and are not too much demanding.

Now, since I don't think that this FORUM is attended by many full-time MANAGERS or BUSINESSMEN who are very busy indeed and need more then just simple to-do lists, I have the feeling that people have given 82% down for this GAOTD because affected by the first misleading comment published on this forum according to which this product does not support VISTA (I'm not VISTA USER but I trust FUBAR's comment...LOL!!).

All the more reason to slam the GAOTD USER VOTING SYSTEM once again.

As I already said over the past few days I srongly believe that it should be necessary to have actually TRIED the program before given it a rating but unfortunately many people here vote the GAOTD according to their PERSONAL NEEDS rather than to its features, so if they don't need it they give one or more THUMBS DOWN to the program, regardless of its real value and usefulness.

In my humble view it would be a great idea if the VOTING SYSTEM could be limited just to people who have actually downloaded and tried the GAOTD, for instance giving them a CODE once downloaded it.

The result would be a far more accurate picture of how GOOD or BAD the GAOTD actually is, as misleading BAD RATINGS actually may affect the quality of the (future) programs offered here on the long term because the flawed rating system could discourage the best software developers from offering their products here as I guess that they do not like to get beat up with lots of unfair thumbs down (most of visitors here make up their mind just by watching the GAOTD USER RATING of the program rather than reading the comments published in the forum).

As matters stand, if I were a (serious) COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE DEVELOPER, I wouldn't embrace GOTD as a medium for advertising my product whatsoever, giving its licence to GAOTD's visitors for FREE, since most of the times the products here are rated by people who didn't even try them (and in fact it's not an accident that all programs offered here on a daily basis have often been already given away only a couple of months ago).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, as for the FREEWARE ALTERNATIVES, besides those rightly mentioned by ASHRAF and others here, I would add:


- Memorex
- Unforgiven Organizer
- Total Organizer Free
- EasyNoter 3.7


If I were in your shoes I’d definitely try EasyNoter 3.7, a powerful user-friendly Personal Information Manager resembling a real-world organizer encased in a beautiful "leather" cover with built-in LCD clock that also displays the date.

http://www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/easynote.htm


With this pretty cool tool you can jot down notes (Notes section), addresses (Address section), daily duties (Diary), photographs (Photo Album) or pop up reminders (Reminder section) so that you can add documents, links and even images to your notes.

The Reminder facility is greatly improved (it can even be used to run external programs at given time intervals) allowing users to apply for single, hourly, weekly, monthly or yearly reminders for many years ahead, with cool little options, that this GAOTD does not have, such as:

- the ALARMS FEATURE, which can take the form of a traditional "bleep" (but you can also record a customized sound or even launch an external application...LOL!!).

- the ability to launch 4 user-definable applications using an in-built quick-launch bar and a handy photo album for storing images of your choice.


Did I say that it's FREE?? LOL!!


FULL REVIEW of this little (and pretty unknown) GEM here:


http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2128266/easynoter-lite


As you can see there is also an even more powerful PRO version (worth $29.95) with some additional features (double page text, spell checker, password protection etc...), but if you need a professional Personal Information Manager look no further: the FREEWARE EasyNoter LITE VERSION is an impressive tool that does its job pretty well and in style (and maybe it's even better than this GAOTD, but pssssss don't spread the word please...let's keep it secret between me and you.... LOL!!).


Cheers

Giovanni

This offer is really to basic for most peoples needs. I would also add a word of caution for those thinking about the 1/2 price offer for Fusion Desk (which could be a great program, but for lack of development). Before you drop the money on Fusion Desk you may want to look through the help forum the developer has disappeared for nearly 1-1/2 years with no updates, no replies to user questions and troubles, and no bug fixes. Boris appears to have completely abandoned the app. So just a word of warning you may be buying dead software that is no longer under development, but is more than happy to keep taking peoples money.

Thanks but no thanks, GOTD. Anyone who needs a competent and fully featured to-do list manager should consider my favorite, ToDoList (reviewed way back in post #12 of my utilities block, or the above-mentioned Rainlendar, or one of the many popular Web-hosted services like ToDoIst, Remember The Milk, etc.

Ashraf (#9): Like other GOTD denizens, I appreciate your helpful and prompt software reviews. However, I'd like to correct you about personal information managers. A to-do list utility is not a PIM. The PIM category includes such commercial programs as Act, Outlook, Essential PIM (which also has a free edition), and others that integrate to-do lists, calendars, contact management, notes, reminders, and sometimes other related functions.

User ROW (message # 7) mentionned "Swift To Do List" which is published by Dextronet, the same company that sells their "Tree Notes Note Organizer" program today only for $5.95 instead of the regular $30 on bitsdujour.com.

I'm testing it right now before the expiration of the 24h only special deal period (like GOTD), and so far I like it.

It looks perfect to organize my numerous notes that I now try to manage in NotePad++ but this one does NOT do text enrichment.

While "Tree Notes" is quite light (and fast), it DOES text enrichment (fonts, bold, color, etc.) and seems integrated (at least linked) to their "Swift To Do List" program.

I'll try "Swift To Do List Lite" as suggested by ROW instead of today's GOTD offer as Smart Todo seems a bit cumbersom and too light for my needs. To each their own.

Thanks anyway GOTD I support you each and everyday.

Jelpy

I am happy with my Outlook s/w to manage email, tasks and contacts so I will pass on this one.

Yet another "manager"...Boy-o-boy..!!..
I personally have no use for a "system crasher" as I recall this one was once classed as..!!..
Good luck to those whom try this one, but I think I'll pass it up.

As I also agree that the voting system is not used properly, So I shall not be voting due to not even downloading. But I give this a BIG thumbs down, just from prior experiences..!!..

Sorry GAOTD, but recently I've not seen much of the good things we have become accustomed to as daily GAOTD users...( but I know it will be coming soon enough..)..

Thank-You for the offer anyways..

Works on Vista fine.

The Good
* Nice clean and simple interface.
* Very easy to use.
* Ability to have multiple 'to-do' lists.
* Built in search feature that not only searches titles but also notes.
* Ability to add attachments to tasks.

The Bad
* Does not have a few features that I consider norm for PIMs.
* Not sure why a to-do list needs the ability to add attachments.
* No widget to display to-do lists.
* Kind of resource intensive for being a simple PIM.
* By default, when using reminder window, it is set to remind you again in 5 mins.
* Little to none visual heads up that you have a file/folder attached to a task.
* Odd way to edit a category.

Free Alternatives:
Rainlender
Sunbird
EssentialPIM

Verdict:
I would have to give Smart To-Do a thumbs up. Despite its faults, it is simple and easy to use PIM for people who just want simple to-do lists. However, for people who are very busy and need more then just simple to-do lists, Smart To-Do will not be a very appealing program. For people like that, there was LeaderTask that was just given out a few days ago. If you missed out on LeaderTask, EssentialPIM should fit your needs better then Smart To-Do. For everyone else, while I say Smart To-Do is a good program, I am not recommending it to anyone until the developer makes a few changes that I mentioned. Until then, my recommendation for people who just need simple task and event lists is still Rainlender.

Full Review: PoliticallyMotivated.net

#4, SpoonFed, if you check their forums you'll see that the developer is back and talking about updating FusionDesk. He also explained some email issues, including getting product keys. Of course, long absences by the developer aren't a good thing.

Most of the features in this software are already present in the free version of "Swift To-Do List" lite software. Moreover it has a much better UI.

I would love to see GAOTD team coming up with the paid version of "Swift To Do List" software.

Works fine on Vista, requires a DEP exception if DEP is enabled for everything. There have been some updates, I don't know if this version is changed from the last time. Requires direct disk access, which I don't like; Internet access is for updates, which can be deselected. The main window is OK but the sub-windows can open partly off-screen, which is highly annoying (move the main window away from screen edges).

Enough of the endless comments from people who aren't using Vista or don't know anything about Vista. Most programs install on Vista fine. Of course, utility programs which mess with Windows itself generally do need to be Vista compatible. If other programs don't function properly, it's generally due to very bad coding. This situation occurs every time Microsoft releases a new OS.

Good software with very light and small code (under 4 mb). It lacks a huge amount of power that Essential PIM and Alzema's Leader Task offer along with to-do lists and schedulers, though. I am afraid I wouldn't suggest it to most people unless they really only need a to-do list. For most users, this isn't going to cut it, even vs. freeware.

I have started a dedicated page to GOTD reviews on my personal blog as well. I have posted the full review with screenshots at the link below.

Full Review and Screen Shots

I have trialled this software in the past and found that it doesn't meet my particular needs. It's fairly simplistic and I really dislike the design (while I know that's down to personal preference, it does prevent me from wanting to actually use the program - not a good thing for a task management system!).

I have been using FusionDesk, another program by the same developer, for several months. I find it to be much more robust and handles more complex tasks and projects. However, work has stopped on FusionDesk with very little communication from the developer. I gather from other users that support questions are not being answered. I am using the free version of FusionDesk (it took me five months to get a key for it!) but would hesitate to pay money for or rely too heavily on any Virtuoza Software.

Less than 5 minutes into the new download page, 6 for 21 against. But no comments. I agree. should no be able to vote without a comment first.

Downloaded on Vista Home Premium and Win7 no problems. It is a simple task list manager. Not impressive but basic. I do not need a task list manager anymore. (thank goodness)

Beware, made by the same company that gave us Incontrol

Remember the rating:

User Rating: 224 (28%) 580 (72%)Comments (91)

Don't say it does not support vista. It does not support vista. It's at your own risk if you install a software that it doesn't say it support vista. I am using vista. I won't try any software if it does not support vista officially. Some of the software from GAOTD have crashed my system for a couple of time. Enjoy it, XPers.