Together (formerly KIT) remains one of my personal favorites in the area of file and note organization. I mentioned it last when the 2.1 release brought an array of oft-requested features. The latest update, version 2.2, adds some welcome additional features and fixes some existing issues. Highlights for the release include:

• Intelligent automatic tagging:

  This one is probably the most intriguing new feature, at least for me. It generates a certain number of tags (defined in preferences) based on tags you used on similar content in the past. It doesn't seem to read tags on items that existed prior to the upgrade or enabling automatic tagging, but it learns as it goes once you start using it. It's a little touch-and-go for me so far, but it's apparent that it's picking up on my habits as I continue to add new items. (See the update from the developer at the end of the article).

• Any or All boolean searches in the tag browser:

  This one was killing me in previous releases, which always treated multiple tag selections as "any," which (for me) defeated the purpose of multiple selections in a tag browser. Problem solved, the choice can be made in the view options of the tag browser.

• Groups and Smart Groups can be nested in folders:

  Depending on your organization method, grouping these items could prove to be a benefit. The previous version added the ability to automatically tag items added to a group or folder with tags set for that folder. With the option to perform that tagging on subfolders, the new group nesting feature allows for a hierarchical tagging system on groups, too.

• You can wrap selected items in a new group
• Tabs can be arranged by dragging
• Tabs can be activated by dragging to them

• Minimum dimensions can be set when importing web pages as PDFs:

  I love the PDF import feature of Together, which lets you save a web page as a PDF, keeping all of the text editable but in a more portable format than a web archive. It had a tendency to squish pages with certain CSS layouts, though. Another problem solved.

• Numerous fixes and features not mentioned in this abbreviated list

See the full release notes for Together 2.2 for a more in-depth list of the new features. Together remains $39USD, and is available at Reinvented Software.

Update: Together developer Steve Harris adds the following information regarding auto-tagging...

"When first enabled, Together builds up a map of the existing documents in your library and their corresponding tags. When documents are imported or saved, Together will analyse their content and tag them based on the tags for similar items.

To do this, Together is using a technology called Latent Semantic Mapping, which is built into Mac OS X, and is used by Mail.app to check for junk mail. As with Mail, it's possible the matches won't always be right, so if you change the tags on a document, Together will learn from that and in future, auto-tagging should be more accurate"

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!

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.

As we Mac fans and users must concede, we do still live in a Windows world. For those of who also work in a Windows world (including banging your heads against a wall), I've found a site that could help Windows and OS X shake hands and (dare I say it) work together better: MacWindows.com. Need to learn about using a Mac with Active Directory? How about using Mac OS X Server with Windows clients? Cross-platform file sharing, Exchange server and applescripts for converting file names - it's all here. This site gets pretty in-depth on a lot of these topics, and it looks like the best one-stop resource I've seen to help with all those OS X Windows-related headaches.