iGTD2 showing promise

For the last half year i have been actively looking for GTD software for my mac. I have used iGTD 1 for a while and was pretty content with it. Then i tried Omnifocus and iGTD2 and recently Things from culture code. Things seems to best fit my needs though. Simple and intuitive.

I'm an iGTD donor myself, and still promptly jumped ship after the Leopard problems failed to be resolved. I understand where you're coming from. When OmniFocus was still rough and Things hadn't been released yet, I went as far as making my own system with mind mapping software and some applescript.

For the record, Bartek has confirmed that iGTD2 is donationware. There is a pro version in the works, but iGTD2 remains a separate entity.

While iGTD 2 may be coming along just fine, many of us who are using iGTD 1 have been left out in the cold.

I donated $50 to the project. I came to rely on it, and so I wanted to ensure that development would continue. Then Leopard came out, and despite a few bug fixes to the application, many important iGTD features remain broken. Start dates cannot be added to tasks, and iCal syncing often fails, many times leading to data loss. The iGTD forum shows that many people are having these problems, not just me, but the developer seems to prefer that we suffer through these problems and wait for his next release, which will be a commercial one, not donationware.

I'm not one of those FSJ-named "freetards" who whines whenever he has to pay for anything. I GLADLY pay for software that makes my life easier, even when I don't have to pay for it. Therefore, I have no problem with the iGTD developer wanting to go commercial. He should.

I will also concede that I'm not a developer, so and I could be completely wrong when I think that the problems plaguing iGTD 1 are fixable.

However, given the brisk development and frequent updates to iGTD 1 last year and now this perceived negligence to users of the current version under Leopard, especially those like myself that supported the project -- I feel betrayed. I wish I could get my money back.

And yet, nothing else works like iGTD right now, and so I'm stuck with it. Perhaps when Things gains iCal syncing, I will switch, even if only on principle.

You're right, I've never given iGTD high marks for beauty or fluid interface design. I like the keyboard-centric interface and the new tab system has potential, but the flexibility, even in the original, has always been a draw for me.

I'm very much looking forward to a head-to-head on the new breed of GTD apps, comparing for both usability and the ability to adhere to GTD principles. I'd like Things to come out with a decent import option and better OS level integration so I can make apple-to-apple comparisons.

Maybe, in the process of charting out features, I'll finally be able to make a decision myself and settle down with a single app for a while. I'm getting tired of hacking out import options :).

Brett,
thanks for this post. I tried iGTD a while ago but found the interface design horrific, especially when it came to icons. I liked however its simple and streamlined approach.
At the moment I am trying once again to implement strict GTD principles and so I am searching for a trustworthy software package, that suits my workflow.
With OmniFocus out of beta and Things looming on the horizon I would like to encourage you to conduct a thorough analysis and side-by-side comparison of these apps, that would be great.
Harald