Folks thoughts about features in roadmap

[Will Eatherton]

I am curious what other users of UR have in mind for use of the upcoming features planned for release from the roadmap : http://www.kinook.com/Forum/showthre...=&threadid=993

Looking at the next 2 releases and first few highest priority features afterwards here are my thoughts

# XML (OML/OPML) import and export
Will : I dont know what I personally will do with this since I dont have anything immediately important enough to spend time on scripts and sw myself. I do think it woudl be cool if there are folks with time (or enough interest to make it that come up with interesting ways to do better printing, or do pretty export to web pages etc...
# Delimited file (CSV) import and enhanced CSV export
# Contact (V-Card/VCF) import and export
Will : For the above two I know folks have mentioned things like doing massive contact import from outlook but then I have to manually keep them in sync. I probably will wait until there is tighter outlook integration.
# Internet Explorer integration (context menu)
Will : not sure what context menu is, or what integration really means
# Export multiple RTF info items to a single document
Will : this will be VERY nice, looking forward to this. Would be nice if we could print mulitple directly from UR also (though I guess we can export and then print)
# Changes for increased CUA keyboard compliance

# Outlook integration
Will : waiting on edge of my seat for this one. Interested to see what this really means.
# Firefox integration
Will : I use both IE and firefox depending on the task so this will be nice but not that big of deal for me.
# Additional import capabilities
Will : not sure what this includes
# Alarms/tickler/reminder/recurring task functionality
Will : will defintely use this
# Persist detail scroll position on forward/back
# Drag/drop reordering of sibling items in tree
Not sure what this means
# Synchronization enhancements
Sounds good depending on what it actually means.

Future Releases
Rough priority of features for subsequent releases

# RTF editor enhancements (ruler, outlining, etc.)
Will : VERY important to me
# Wiki-style linking in RTF/attributes
Will : this sounds cool and I have done some wiki stuff. I will probably have to see some examples from others more masterful in this area to get ideas how to really take advantage.
# Open multiple items in tabs
Will : not sure how often I will really use this.
# Attribute to cause grandchildren to be included in Child Items
Will : not sure how I would use this.
# Google Desktop Search integration
Will : This would be major for me !!! Since I have like 8GB of outlook .pst files I will never move into UR, being able to use google desktop to in one shot search email and UR would be great. I have been playing with the google desktop extreme and it is very nice. What would really be awesome is if rather then just including UR into the google desktop search criteria (is that what is meant ?) if you could initiate a google desktop search inside UR with UR search flexiblity (not sure if the APIs are flexible enough for this).

Well that is enough I will stop there and see if others have thoughts.

Will

[prf5]

I looked at the roadmap with a key toward how the developers are positioning their product. A few months ago, I said that UR as "quickly becoming indispensable." That's a mixed blessing, because as I become more dependent on a piece of software I need assurance that it's evolving into something that will continue to have appeal, and more important, that it will be around for the foreseeable future. I, among others, believe that UR has almost unlimited potential. This potential will get reigned in as its purpose comes to be more clearly defined, and the roadmap goes a long way toward providing that definition.

For me, the principal question is: Does the roadmap position UR as a major application or a utility, and if it's a utility, will it be essential or a convenience? The roadmap indicates that UR will lack the power and distinctiveness of a major application. Fundamentally, it's a place to stash information that was generated by other applications and a means of generating snippets and notes that eventually will end up somewhere else or have time-limited value. So, is it essential? The answer would be "yes" if it offered unique capabilities that I will come to rely on. Instead, I see it positioned as a competitor to Onenote and Evernote, but lacking desirable features such as collaboration and handwriting recognition. The data explorer gives UR an edge. However, lacking the ability to create views limits the its capability.

I continue to use UR, but have begun to keep it at a distance and won't allow it to become an essential tool of my work. I expect the other applications to give UR intense competition, particular as they become more mature. The biggest competition, however, will come from advances in search technology, as manifested now in products such as Copernic Desktop Search, Blinkx, and others -- and soon to be integrated into the operating system. These advances may drive UR to the margins. I am hopeful, however, that there is a long-term roadmap that will lead the product in a distinctive and more appealing direction.

[quant]

prf5,

interesting reading, I'd love to hear your opinion on UR after 2.5 years.