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1993-04-27
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Lotus Organizer
PIM for Windows
by Tony Curro
Nowadays, when everything has to be done, immediately if not sooner,
we sometimes forget an appointment or an important phone call.
Lotus, makers of Agenda, 1-2-3, and other popular programs have
released Organizer v1.0. Organizer is a Windows Personal Information
Manager (PIM). What makes Organizer different from other PIMs is the
learning curve. It is almost nonexistent. I used another PIM that
was so top-heavy, not to mention needing over 6MB of hard disk
space. The manual alone was enough to dislocate a few bones. Lotus
Organizer comes with a manual of 150 pages.
People who use an organizer like Day-Timer or Filofax, will like
Organizer. It looks just like these, and will even print pages that
can be inserted in these books. Installation is a snap and requires
3MB hard disk space, Windows 3.x, VGA, and pointing device.
Lotus Organizer consists of six parts: Calendar, To-Do List,
Planner, Address Book, Notepad, and Anniversary. If you have cc:mail
or Lotus Notes, you can send and receive mail directly from
Organizer.
You can import or export ASCII files in CVS format, Cardfile, dBase
II and dBase IV files. This will make converting easier as you will
not have to reenter your data.
Organizer uses SmartIcons, which is now a part of all Lotus
products. These icons further simplify tasks. You can also link data
from one part to another very easily. So that appointment in your
calendar can quickly be linked to your notepad. All of these links
are accomplished using point-and-click, which eliminates typing.
Organizer has context-sensitive help that consists of full User's
Guide and command reference summary.
Each section of Organizer has a tab, to quickly get to a specific
section. Clicking on the address tab will take you to that section
and so on. The program is fully customizable. You design your own
electronic organizer to suit your needs and preferences. Text can
appear in different colors, which allows you to make things needing
immediate attention in red, those that are not that important in
yellow and so on. You select the colors and other features any way
you desire.
You can view things in a variety of ways. For example, in To-Do,
show them by due date, color-coded, level of priority. Mark the ones
you did, and carry forward overdue items. Look at the calendar in
four different views. See the address book in four formats, set up
phone calls, and create mailing labels.
Lotus Organizer has excellent mail merge capabilities. Link the data
from Organizer to Ami Pro 2.0 or 3.0, MS Word, and WordPerfect. The
manual contains easy-to-follow instructions on how to use you
Organizer data file with these programs.
I was impressed with Lotus Organizer for several reasons. Price was
one. It is reasonably priced, and users of Agenda 2.0 can upgrade to
Organizer for Windows for an upgrade fee of $69(US) or $79(Canada).
The appearance of Organizer was another selling point. However, the
two main points were the disk requirement, and ease-of-use. Today so
many programs are HUGE. While Organizer requires 3MB hard disk
space, it is less than others of its class. Many people that I
speak with do NOT want to spend 'forever and a day' learning a
program. Lotus Organizer can be used in most cases without cracking
the spine of the manual. However, you should use the manual to
familiarize yourself with the various aspects of the program. I ran
Organizer out of the box without looking at the manual. After using
it a few days, I started using the manual. I learned so much more
about the powerful features of Organizer. This very small learning
curve should make Lotus Organizer a winner. In fact, CTM, has
awarded it an Editor's Choice Award for 1992.
Product Information
Lotus Organizer
for Windows (PIM)
List Price $149
Lotus Development Corp.
55 Cambridge Parkway
Cambridge, MA 02142
617-577-8500