Jay recently reviewed MiniTask, an ultra- simple to-do list application built on the Adobe Air platform. If you're like me and would prefer to avoid installing yet another oversized Adobe product on your Windows PC, take a look at To-Do Desklist.

Like MiniTask, you can add an alarm to an item and hotkeys are supported for adding new tasks and showing your to-do items. Desklist also allows you to assign priority and add extended notes to tasks.

Alerts can be displayed in any corner of your screen, and they're fully skinnable. The program comes with light, dark, and sky themes built in, but you're free to set your own background color or image and change the display font. You can also tweak opacity settings for the alerts.

The full task window allows you to filter items by priority. When your list gets lengthy, it's a helpful way to make sure you're focusing on critical tasks.

I'd like to have option to hide alerts (like MiniTask) or collapse task items, but for simple lists, Desklist is still a good option. It's freeware for Windows only.

Google offers a ton of web-based services that replace desktop applications. There's Google Docs for anyone who doesn't need a full fledged version of Microsoft Office. And there's Gmail and Google Calendar for folks who don't want to be tied to Microsoft Outlook. But there's one thing that Google has yet to offer: a task management application.

Now there's a way to add a task manager to Gmail. It just doesn't come from Google. It comes from online task list company Remember The Milk.

Here's how it works. First thing you have to do is check the box next to "add any gadget by URL" in Gmail labs. Then go to your Gmail settings tab and click on gadgets. Next, you enter the URL for the Remember The Milk gadget.

Once you're done, you just need to login to your Remember The Milk account and you should see a list of upcoming tasks in your Gmail sidebar. If you're new to Remember The Milk, you can create new tasks from Gmail or you can visit the Remember The Milk homepage.

Remember The Milk also has a Firefox addon that lets you schedule and check off tasks from your browser. But the Gmail gadget offers a few major advantages. First, it will work with any web browser that supports Gmail. And second, you don't need to install a utility on every browser you use. Just login to your GMail account and your task list will be available.

[via VentureBeat]

Smart To Do List is a simple Windows utility for keeping track of your tasks. You can set up multiple projects for things like household chores, work projects, or vacation planning. Then you enter a list of tasks you need to accomplish for each project. Just check them off one at a time as you complete them.

The program also includes some nice features like the ability to mark tasks as high, medium, or low priority and to add tags that make it easy to filter your tasks. You can save lists as templates to use again later. And you can install Smart To Do Lists to a flash drive to run on any computer.

The program is available for $14.95. Or you can run the trial version which has all the same features as the full version but only lets you manage 2 projects at a time.

[via Web Worker Daily]

If there's one thing that users of David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) system suffer from, it's typically the temptation to mess with their system. Nothing feels better than having all of your stuff under control, except maybe having all of your stuff under control in a sexy new system.

So if you've been rocking the same GTD application for too long and feel it's time to mix things up a little, check out this amazing survey of the GTD application landscape at About This Particular Mac.

While it originates at a Mac-centric site, the list should be of interest to any GTD practitioner since many (if not most) of the listed applications are web apps, with the occasional cross-platform app thrown in.

For good measure, here are our favorite GTD apps based on platfrom:

Windows: ClearContext (an Outlook add-in)
Mac: iGTD
Web: Backpack or Remember The Milk

It's Friday, and Download Squad wants to make sure that you have completed all your tasks for the week. And what better way to track and ensure they are completed than with an online app. We have covered a bunch of note taking and GTD apps in the past, but Vitalist is another one you might enjoy using.

Vitalist offers a fresh outlook on the space. The interface is quick to grasp, well layed out and offers tasks that can be grouped and filtered by color coordinated projects, making it quick to scan and update as required. Vitalist has also built out special mobile access websites including a dedicated iPhone website for completing tasks while on the go. Support for both Google and Netvibes start page widgets is available as well as reminders that can be sent to emails and via sms. There are a few different Vitalist account options starting at free, and rising up to $10/month. Free accounts of course come with a few limitations. Actions and Tasks are unlimited, but projects and contacts are limited to 10 and there are no task sharing features available.

With so many GTD tools in the marketplace, it's hard to decide which one to choose that will help you along the way. Sometimes your best bet is to actually get a good old fashion moleskin notebook and a pen. Getting things done truly has nothing to do with the application, and more to do with the execution and sticking to whatever you choose to help you along the way.

Check out a few more pics after the jump...

Collaborating with a team in an online space has its challenges, Mindquarry wants to make it as simple as possible, yet keeps the productive functionality.

Mindquarry is an online space that allows for the sharing of documents, management of products, and collaboration with team members wherever they might be located. Its four main collaboration tools consist of Teams, Files, Wiki, and Tasks and it works totally in a browser window.

• Teams and team members can be analyzed and managed.
• Files can be shared and stored online, with a history of change record.
• Wiki's can be used to share information or creative ideas, think of it as a blackboard.
• Tasks can be assigned to team members, and to-do lists can be checked.

The rich text editing environment provides a space where users can work both online and offline, syncing documents when complete or back online. There are two parts to this application, the online Server, and the Client application. The Server is the collaboration hub that ties everything together and gives a strategic overview of everything that is happening. While the Client is the tool that team members use to connect them to the Server and sync up files and tasks when complete and online.



The free downloadable Mindquarry Go software is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX users. It is available in beta only for now. For a more in depth look at the software, take a look at the User Guide, or this quick video demonstration.

With so many hassles and things to worry about when moving, why not hire a professional. Better yet, check out a free service called Moveme.

Moveme is based and focused on the London, UK area. It offers individuals and families an easy way to keep track of their moving tasks like changing mailing addresses, forwarding mail, hiring a moving truck and activating new utilities. The interface is clean, simple, and easy to navigate. Upon entering your current, new address and date to be moved in, Moveme plots everything down on a calendar, and schedules tasks from the current date up until the move time. Task can be viewed in a list format, on a calendar, and reminders can be sent out. Letters and forms can also be created through Moveme to inform your contacts and suppliers of your new address.

In a day and age where everything from YouTube to Pownce are vying for both our free and shouldn't-be-free time, it's great to see a company like Remember the Milk figuring out an ingenious way to help keep our daily tasks organized while we're goofing off or micro-blogging with Twitter. On the company's blog today, RTM announced not only that they have a Twitter account of their own, but that you can actually get some clever use out of it. By adding the RTM Twitter account as a friend and then direct messaging it with a specific syntax they have put together, you can actually create tasks, send tasks to friends and even command tasks (mark them as complete, get an SMS of a list's tasks, etc.). This is a stellar way of combining such a dynamic service as Twitter with a way of being productive, and all it requires is some simple linking of your RTM account with your Twitter username.

Fortunately, both Twitter and Remember the Milk are free to sign up for, giving you a valid way to justify all that time you spend on Twitter to your boss.

Thanks Chris!

There are many task-list applications out there, but not many with the impressive feature set that Toodledo has. Its deceptive simplicity of task entry using inline editing via AJAX makes for lightning fast tasking and better productivity, while providing integration with Google Calendar, Google Personal Homepage, Firefox, and IMified.

One of the best features of Toodledo is the distinction between folders (for projects) and contexts (the many hats you wear). Contexts allows only your current frame of mind for work, and doesn't show you your home tasks. This keeps the honey-do list away from your work list, so you aren't thinking about that darn swing-set you have to put up in the middle of working on Mr. The-man's presentation.

If that isn't enough to make you jump over and check it out, they also have a printable tasklist, email alerts for your top tasks (called a hotlist), but also the ability to import/export tasks to iCal, Palm OS, XML, CSV, and text. Task lists can be published to the web if you want to share your inner-workings with the world, and with a non-free but reasonable price ($14.95/year) you can have others edit and append to your task list among other things. Toodledo offers a free 7-day trial of their pro account for your enjoyment.

Wait, there's even more. There is a developer API, it fully supports GTD, tags, history and stats, a scheduler, some goal-setting functions, RSS support, SMS support, WAP support and more. Tasks can be imported from Outlook, Apple iCal, and Remember The Milk. Seldom is there such a complete feature set in a free application. It is a major time-saver for the quick-and-dirty type task person who doesn't want to spend 8 years filling out a task form. If you don't have a solid task-list manager yet, this is the ticket.

How would you like to cuddle up to a secure online space that has the potential to help out your business with some valuable document, project and team tools?

Huddle is based off of a social networking model, without being just another social network. It allows users to network via secure online spaces combining tools that create a professional feel client service portal. Teams can come together with customers to plan out projects and documents, and collaborate on ideas.

A unique dashboard provides an overview of all activities, tasks, and documents that are awaiting review. When viewing projects, users can instantly see who's online, and the progression of projects. There is also a handy calendar that displays upcoming tasks and overdue activities.

Huddle's online tools include:

• Document sharing - Documents can be uploaded for approval, revisions and version tracking.
• Project planning - Projects can be planned, with tasks assigned, and progress tracked through a filing cabinet.
• Idea generation - Ideas can be written down on a whiteboard, and to-do lists can be created.
• Working together - Teams can gather together and get to know each other better by chatting and reading through bios and personal pages.

Huddle provides three main package solutions that are determined by number of users, file sizes, and monthly fees. Freelancers can enjoy a (converted from UK pound sterling) $10 U.S./month rate, while small businesses can expect to dish out $22 U.S./month to connect teams, suppliers, partners and clients.

While many other task management applications have found ways to incorporate the ideas put forth by the Getting Things Done methodology that David Allen developed, it seems that very few have been built from the ground up as GTD applications. There are certainly a few web applications that can make that claim, but in terms of "offline" applications, the pickings are pretty slim.

One such application, however, is ThinkingRock. Written in Java, ThinkingRock boasts versions for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

In ThinkingRock, you work in specific modes that relate to the various levels of the GTD workflow. For example, rather than entering a task and setting the project it relates to and the context at that moment, you can simply use a collection view to do a brain dump of all of the tasks and ideas that are bouncing around in your mind.

Cozi was created by a group of ex-Microsofties to help address the complex dynamic needs of a family lifestyle nowadays. They created a complete scheduling environment to help families stay productive and on schedule. Cozi is a downloadable PC application that serves as a central location where families can plan, schedule and manage all the things they do in life. There is also a web-based version that supports Mac users.

Through Cozi users can access their family calendar, schedules, and notes information that are stored in the family's personal system, even when they are on the go. Reminders can be sent out and accessed by any PC or mobile phone you choose. This sounds like the ultimate family planner, 2.0 style. Did I mention it's free?

More screenshots after the jump...

Tasks is YAOTMP (yet another online task management product) but when I think back it may be that it was one of the first. It's a very well designed and functional task management program that appears to have all the features you could ask for:

• Tagging
• Hierarchical organization of tasks
• Mobile interface
  
• Prioritize
• Email reminders
• Task templates
• Ability to create tasks from e-mails
• Favorite tasks
• iCalendar and RSS support
• Notes
• File Uploads
• Multiple Task Edit
• Themes
• Auto-check for updates to both software and documentation

Tasks is not hosted; it is software that you download and install on your own web server. In my mind this is good and bad; the good is that you can control where you put it, so that you can ensure it ends up on a fast host that is not too popular. The bad is that you're responsible to maintain your installation yourself, which is something I'm less and less inclined to do these days. I personally don't want to be messing with the nuts and bolts of my task management system, I just want it to work. But clearly many people do want that level of control.

Tasks costs $29.95 USD to purchase, although there is a free trial available for 21 days via a hosted account. If you decide to continue using Tasks, they will send you your data along with the install files upon purchase. There is also a hosted version of Tasks called UseTasks, which costs $3.95 USD per month for the Personal edition.

I haven't yet had the opportunity to install and try Tasks, so if you have please drop us a note in the comments and let us know what your experience has been like.

How would you like a way to add task lists into Google Calendar? I would love it. Especially since it's now possible with Remember The Milk. With the addition of a RTM calendar, you can easily add new tasks, review your tasks for the day, edit tasks, check out overdue tasks, and see where location-based tasks are with a Google Map.

Adding this feature to your calendar is simple. Click on the Google Calendar link from the Remember The Milk homepage to add the Remember The Milk Google Calendar. When the calendar is added, you will see the Remember The Milk calendar listed in your Other Calendars section. Subscribing to this new calendar is the driving force behind the task list. Once added you can start tasking away. You know you have tasks to complete when there is a blue circle with a check for a specific day. If you use Google Apps for your Domain, adding the tasks with this process does not work. Remember The Milk does, however, have an alternative method that you must follow.

Nokia is planning on offering up email and instant messaging from Yahoo! on its mobile phones. The new plan will see three Nokia models having the ability to accept Yahoo! mail and chats on Yahoo! Messenger, along with the ability to sync Yahoo! contacts, tasks and calendar items. What does it mean for both companies? Nokia is the top mobile manufacturer worldwide, but still has some ground to cover in the US. Yahoo! will be seen as a market leader in the mobile email sector since emailing from phones will be a giant must-have for consumers in the coming year. Having their service preinstalled on Nokia devices will help push their technology to the forefront of consumer's minds.

I have been trying out the Gmail for mobile phones application on a Motorola RAZR for quite some time now, and I think I would be lost if I was unable to check email while on the go with such a quick and easy application. I hope Yahoo!'s is this easy.