Together 2.1 is a major upgrade for this ever-evolving information management application. Steve Harris, author of Together (and Feeder), has listened very carefully to user feedback and is turning up the heat with features that I've personally been waiting anxiously for. I'm a fickle suitor of many apps in this genre, constantly switching amongst the likes of Yojimbo, DEVONthink, Evernote, EagleFiler, SOHO Notes and some of my own concoctions. I've always liked Together's interface ... it just lacked certain functionality in some key areas of my workflow. Version 2.1 makes great strides to fill those gaps.

My current workflow -- one that's lasted long enough for me to call it my system -- is heavily based on Spotlight comment tagging for gathering project-related information. This is rapidly becoming a universally-accepted method and is supported by many applications which can read and write their internal tags to and from Spotlight comments. Together has added both read and write functionality for such tags with a user-definable prefix, as well as the option to import keywords as tags. This means that the system I use in applications like Leap, Mail.app (with Mailtags), FileSpot and directly in Finder (with Spotlight) work hand-in-hand with Together now. You can even define default tags for groups and folders to assign to imported items, and Together can now automatically import files saved by external programs into its Library folders. The new support for external linking to internal items and a complete AppleScript dictionary kick off the highlights of the extensive release notes.

A few other highlights include:

• Smart groups can now be based on other groups (including other smart groups)
• Recording of the date items are imported
• The option to create visually accurate Web PDFs instead of web archives
• A system-wide import hotkey
• A more useful Shelf that can tag and sort quick notes
• Quick Look in the Shelf
• Performance improvements in multiple areas
• Text highlighting in notes and documents
• Extensive preview options
• Text in imported emails is now selectable

One deciding factor for me in choosing a system is the database vs. file system debate. It's a debate that spurs quasi-theological discussion, but ultimately it's a personal choice and somewhat dependent on your particular needs. I like file system storage as found in Together and EagleFiler because of its automatic integration with the rest of my applications. Files edited in an external application from Together are treated just like regular Finder files (because they are) and will show up in Recent Files menus and your Spotlight index. Yes, Yojimbo and DEVONthink have Spotlight plugins, but they have to go the extra step to write out their metadata. Together is also quite adept at dealing with filetypes it doesn't necessarily understand, letting the system handle default applications and Quick Look handle the previews. And lastly, all of my files are easily accessible outside of Together and not locked into a proprietary database.

Together 2.1 is a free upgrade for current users. A new license will run you $39 and there's a demo available. And if you're thinking of switching from Yojimbo, there's an importer just for you on the downloads page.

Update: If you're in the market, be sure to check out what's new with Evernote, too!

Evernote has plans for your brain. More specifically, a vision for the the augmentation of your memory. Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote and a recent Mac convert (who's been enthusiastically replacing his relatives' PCs with Macs to cut down on tech support calls) filled us in on Evernote's big plans.

Originally, Evernote was a Windows desktop application for taking notes, and it was (and is) top-ranked in its class. Then they decided that a broader array of input options and more accessibility could take Evernote light years beyond the initial plans. This included creating a Mac desktop client and a web application to interface everything. It can take your text notes, web clippings, pictures and more, organizing them with a tagging system and attribute filter. The ultimate goal of Evernote is to be, as Phil puts it, a "universal human memory extension."

The Mac desktop client is being developed from the ground up, not ported from the Windows client. This makes for a true Mac experience and a beautiful interface. Feature parity will eventually be maintained (Windows users currently have a slightly different feature set), but the two clients are being developed separately. Read on after the jump to find out what makes Evernote different from your current system for tracking all the information in your life (and find out how you can get in on it!).

One of the most anticipated applications in recent memory, Delicious Library 2 is finally nearing release. Earlier this week, the guys over at AppleInsider showed off an in-depth sneak peek of the application and its new features and revamped interface.

I have had the opportunity to play with the beta as well, and I must say, I'm impressed. For the last six weeks or so, I have been working on a little something I like to call Project DVD -- wherein I try the various DVD cataloging programs (though most can catalog more than just DVDs) and find the best one to tackle my truly mammoth collection -- and it's great to have DL2 in the mix.

Just from my own experiences, what has impressed me most about the beta -- aside from the various UI changes/eye candy -- is just how much easier it is to add items.

Because I have so many DVDs, it's often faster for me to enter in titles by hand rather than relying on the iSight scanner. No matter how accurate the scanner may or may not be, holding a title up to my laptop is usually going to take longer than just typing in the name (granted, using a USB scanner like Motorola CS104 is a great solution, but at $100 OEM, you really have to weigh the expense to convenience). My biggest problem with Delicious Library (and in fact, almost all of the programs I have tested for Project DVD) has been that adding multiple titles at one time (say, multiple seasons of a TV show) has been either really difficult or impossible.

The all-purpose organization app, Together, has been updated to version 2.0.4. Formerly known as KIT (Keep It Together), the new name came with the 2.0 version and a Leopard-only status.

Together, by way of background information, offers functionality similar to Yojimbo with several major differences, including file system storage, hierarchical folders, and a wider range of supported filetypes. Together handles multiple libraries and deals well with large files and large file collections.

The development of Together is progressing nicely, and 2.0.4 fixes a few low-profile but crucial bugs. I'm especially pleased about the lowering of the sensitivity in the spring-loaded folders when dragging to the import drawer. I just tested the new build and am happy to report that the delay is indeed improved and the drawer is now highly usable. The new build also improves tag handling and fixes some tag-related bugs, among other fixes.

A forum was just opened today as well for user feedback and discussion.

Together can be purchased for $39 from Reinvented Software.

Unfortunately, a few of the Backpack updates - such as reordering items anywhere on the page - haven't made it into PackRat simply because 37signals doesn't allow external applications to do this through their API. Rod urges users to contact 37signals and request this ability, and hopefully in time the company will listen and open up this functionality. Other new Backpack features like search are probably coming with a future PackRat update.

As with the the recent change to PackRat's trial period, a 30-day demo is available, while a license costs a mere $24.95.

Now that I'm on the home stretch of my undergrad (just a thesis project left to finish), I'm finally able to stretch my legs into some hobbies I've been meaning to pick up. One such hobby is photography, and since I've been flexing my digital tools, I've quickly become enamored with Aperture, Apple's professional alternative to iPhoto. Even though I am by no means a professional photographer (no laughing at my pictures!), there are a ton of features in Aperture that drew me away from iPhoto, and I thought highlighting some of these tempting tools would be ripe for a TUAW podcast. Aperture, in my opinion, isn't just for the photographers whose lens bags weigh more than most typical household dogs; it offers a wealth of general features for power users, photography enthusiasts and those who need something that lands right at the intersection of iPhoto and Photoshop in terms of both functionality and price.

Hence, TUAW Podcast #25 was born. For just over twenty minutes I explore some of Aperture's features that I think appeal to a wide audience. Pick up a copy from our iTunes Store Podcast directory, this direct link or our own podcast rss feed.

Well shiver me mousies - it's a good thing I haven't quite convinced my wife why I need yet another piece of software, because Desktopple, the powerful desktop hiding and management app from FoggyNoggin Software that I just mentioned, is on sale at MacUpdate for a mere $9.95. That's 41% off its regular price of $17.00, and a great deal on what is probably the most powerful and easy to use app in its class for podcasters and desktop clutterbugs alike (oh yea, just like the car commercials - I went there). Check out my previous post for a refresher on what Desktopple is capable of, or snag a demo and take it for a whirl yourself, but don't forget that MacUpdate's sale is a one-day-only deal.

I instantly fell in love with Hazel from Noodlesoft the first time I found it back in September '06, and since then it has received a literal landslide of new features that make it even more indispensable to any heavy file trafficker. For those just tuning in, Hazel is fundamentally a file organization utility; it allows you to set up a series of rules that watch files in directories of your choosing, and then it carries out various actions based on your criteria. For example: I download a lot of videos, particularly motion pieces I find from studios all over the web. I also download a lot of DMGs and ZIPs in the name of TUAW, and as you might guess, after just a busy morning of all this watching and downloading, my desktop is about as messy as the typical freshman dormroom.

Enter Hazel, the background file management ninja. For these two scenarios, I have a couple of rules that watch my Desktop for files of type Movie, DMG or ZIP which were added more than 1 day ago. These rules will then move said files into their respective directories (Movies and Software, as one might guess) and apply a blue label to them, just to make sure I know what was moved how.

Scott Morrison has released a 6th beta of MailTags 2, his quintessential tagging and organizing plug-in for Mail.app that we're big fans of. This new beta heralds a 'feature complete' status for the plug-in, meaning that Scott has implemented all the new features and tricks that version 2 will have, and now it's simply time to clean up the code and stomp out the bugs. Also new in this version is an updated UI with a slick new pop-up window for entering todo and event information (pictured). This makes recording events and staying on top of things with MailTags much more functional and enjoyable, causing Scott's plug-in to rise even farther towards the top of my list of apps that help me get more done with my email.

MailTags 2 costs $25 and can be had from indev.

Organizing emails in Mail.app can be a pain, and sometimes using rules can only go so far. If you need a helping hand to manage all that correspondence, MsgFiler brings some on-the-fly automation to filing messages you've selected. Simply pressing cmd-9 will open a panel that allows you to type the names of folders. Pressing Enter to chose one sends all selected messages to said folder, offering flexibility in your filing habits. A demonstration movie is available at tow.com in case you need to see some examples. MsgFiler typically sells for $12, but is on sale for a limited time for $8.

Now all we need is an equivalent of that Greasemonkey script that also allows for label navigation via the keyboard, and Mail.app just might make it back into my Dock.

[via Daring Fireball]

Late last week, Bare Bones released an update to their excellent junk drawer app, Yojimbo, bringing it up to verison 1.3. I was going to post about it, but a hiccup in my database was preventing me to use the new version (I blame recent .Mac errors, as I'm having all sorts of syncing issues with other apps). Now that I've settled everything, however, I can honestly say this is one of the most pleasing and significant updates to a strong application. In addition to the typical bug fixes and behavior tweaks (you can see the extensive list of changes here), one of the many major additions is tags - users can now tag notes in Yojimbo, complete with support for searching by tags and smart tag collections (and a new Tags management panel in the preferences. Peep the screenshot:

As you can see, not only did Bare Bones add tag support, but they did it right. Tags are separated by commas as opposed to restrictive spaces (I'm looking at you, del.icio.us), and yes - that's a Tag Collection you see below my Serial Numbers group (bonus points for still allowing users to change a Tag Collection's folder icon via the Inspector). I honestly can't say enough good things about the addition of tags to Yojimbo, but I need to leave room for the other major additions I mentioned, such as list and table formatting in notes, easy link creation (for both URLs and file system links), a new UI for the Item Details bar (which you can see includes an area for tags), and much, much more. If you're a Yojimbo user, or someone who's still looking for a good junk drawer app, I highly recommend this new version, as Yojimbo is really beginning to shape up well.

Hazel is one of those rare pieces of software (with a strange name) that feels like it's filling a gaping feature void I didn't even know Apple left in Mac OS X: it's a powerful, rule-based file and folder management app that brings a little bit of Automator, AppleScript and Folder Actions to the table in a way that none of those apps and features do well on their own. Hazel installs as a System Preferences Pane and, as you can see, allows you to build a list of folders on the left with a list of toggle-able rules on the right. The on/off switch on these rules is key, as they make it easy to switch between running certain kinds of rules on a folder for different workflows, jobs, times of the day or week.

While browsing Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes and Smart Playlists.com last night for some ideas on how to make iTunes do my bidding, it dawned on me that these handy tools of automated music wrangling might make for a great Ask TUAW discussion. After all: who doesn't love music, and who doesn't love sharing their tips for better working (or music listening) bliss?

So what say you, TUAW readers? Do you have a smart playlist and a killer rating system for the perfect party soundtrack? Or perhaps a smart playlist that helps you keep track of which music you need to burn and back up? Feel free to lay it on us and share your smart playlist ninja skills with the rest of the class.

If you are semi-type-B like me, you may appreciate a new view of your iCal appointments; a view which has your tasks racing towards a finish line on your desktop (red and on the right in the screenshot above). Replete with a hot key for displaying your appointments, iCalViewer is a very handy app.

A small word of advice for those wishing to try out this app: disable the "Enable Special Events List" checkbox and the "To do's" "Enable" checkbox or you may have two large annoying white rectangles along with your iCal events. Also, note that iCalViewer is a menubar application. You can quit out of it by choosing it in the menubar and choosing "Quit".

If you've been jonesing for a less traditional view of your to-do lists, give iCalViewer a whirl. The app is free for 21 days and $11US thereafter. Version 2.0.5 is a Universal Binary and supports iCal 2.0.1 or later. Race you to the next appointment!

[via Mad Professor] [Desktop photo courtesy Dan Kaminsky. A Napkin sketch I did at Goldfisch, Berlin 2004]