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GemX doOrganizer 1.44
REVIEW DATE: 12.27.04
Aimed at individual users who want a simple, intuitive, and graphically rich
contact and personal information manager (PIM), doOrganizer 1.44 ($74.95
direct), from the Netherlands-based GemX, offers an appealing utility that's
flexible and easy to use. Although this current release is for single users
only, the tool offers some truly innovative features, even when compared to more
established players.
We installed GemX on Windows XP. (It runs on Windows 2000 too.) Installation was
effortless, and doOrganizer impressed us with its visual savvy. It offers a
highly graphical, approachable interface that reminded us of a Mac X OS
application, with smart use of colorful icons throughout. We imported contacts
from Outlook and CSV files, and doOrganizer offers card and list views with good
control features. We liked that you could flag contacts using about two dozen
styles (with colored icons) for grouping and sorting. GemX launches your default
mail client to send e-mail.
As a general-purpose PIM, doOrganizer has all the basics, including storing
contacts, appointments, and tasks. The opening 'home' screen is a bit cluttered,
but almost everything else in doOrganizer offers a clean and well-thought-out
user interface. A winning feature is the ability to associate items by clicking
on special link icons. We used it to associate notes with events and contacts,
for example. Products like ACT! have a true relational database, but the data
relationships are strictly defined. GemX lets you associate items arbitrarily,
which, arguably, mimics the way we think.
doOrganizer also offers mind maps, planners, and journals
as standard features. The mind map lets you brainstorm and draw diagrams or
business workflow charts to solidify ideas. Of course, it's not as comprehensive
or powerful as MindJet's MindManager, for example, but it's a polished tool,
nonetheless. We liked that these idea maps are rendered with
professional-looking 3-D shading.
The planner feature lets you overlay different tasks (like projects at work,
travel, and vacation) over a calendar using different color blocks to better
manage your schedule.
For this version, doOrganizer remains a standalone application, as contact
databases cannot be shared between users. (According to the vendor, networking
support is planned for next year.) More expensive, workgroup-aware solutions
like ACT! 2005 Premium for Workgroups and Goldmine offer network sharing,
Outlook integration and mobile support, all of which are missing in doOrganizer.
If you don't need these extra whistles, however, GemX's doOrganizer offers a
functional and graphically smart interface that will let you organize your work
and personal information with impressive flexibility.
PC Magazine - Contributing Editor Richard V. Dragan
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