What is a task and a note - OS X iCal/Mail/Gmail vs. Outlook vs. Claris Organizer

In another universe I'm using Ecto Professional for task and project management, but in this world I'm an Outlook uber-geek. I know every weird kink in that twisted software, from the brilliant drag-and-drop item transformations to the fantastically clumsy object ID scheme.

In Outlook Notes are obscure colored rectangles with fancy fonts. (Bear with me, this is going somewhere.) Full text search (Windows Desktop Search in my case) makes them surprisingly useful, but most people (foolishly) ignore them. They have Categories (tags: many-to-many relationship) and data attributes that support some useful queries.

Outlook Tasks, on the other hand, are fancy with RTF bodies that can act as containers for all kinds of things.

Notes and Tasks in OS X are very different. They're especially different in 10.5, where they reflect from Mail.app into Gmail to they live as email messages!

Web 2.0: Howto : use google's imap and mail application as GTD tool

Apple's mail.app features it in the latest version that is shipped with Leopard (OSX 10.5). If you set it up to talk to gmail using imap, notes and todo's are created on the imapserver....

...A todo created here shows up...

... if you go to gmail, you'll see a label (as google calls it) with the name Apple Mail To Do, and if you click on it your todo is sitting right there for you to be handled. As it is all in iCal format, easy calendar integration is there, but most important is the fact that you have access to your todo list from anywhere....

Notes show up too, as strange emails with an invalid mail header and a "tag" of "Notes".

The Gmail integration is completely unexpected and thus far seems pretty pointless (maybe that will change June 9th?).

More to the point, OS X Notes/Tasks are almost the mirror image of Outlook Notes/Tasks. In OS X 10.5 tasks are very simple things -- a single line, a priority and due date, and a status field. Notes, on the other hand, can have many associated tasks and support attachments and (clumsy) RTF editing.

 

So where did the OS X Notes/Tasks design meme come from? Perhaps from Claris Organizer, an Apple Mac Classic app from the late early 90s that was later sold to Palm and rewritten to run as a Carbon app in OS X 10.1 and 10.2.

In Claris Organizer (later Palm Desktop for OS X), Notes were distinct entities that could be related to other items.

So you might think you were attaching a comment to an Address Book entry, but in reality you were creating a "note" item and a link from the Address book entry to the note item:

TidBITS  Moving Back to the (Palm) Desktop (1999)

Attached to Attachments -- If you've synchronized your Palm device's data and played with Palm Desktop a bit, you've no doubt run into one of the bigger brain-twisting elements of the new Palm Desktop. What happened to attached notes? Under the Palm OS, you can create a note ... that includes miscellaneous information... Looking at the Note List for the first time can produce a moment of organizational panic: in addition to the records you entered in the Palm's Memo Pad, you'll find dozens of records marked "HandHeld Note:" then the name of one of the Palm's built-in applications...

OS X 10.5 Tasks and Notes have something in common with this, though the user interface is pretty different (much simpler basically). If you start out creating an OS X Task I don't think you can create a Note related to it, but if you instead create a Note, then transform a row (line item) into a Task, you're creating a (hidden) link to a new Task item.

The awkward Palm PDA/Claris Organizer PIM integration resembles Apple's peculiar Gmail "integration", and foreshadows how hard it will be for the iPhone to sync with both Outlook and iCal. (Maybe that has something to do with why Apple hasn't put tasks on the iPhone!). I presume one would have to sync an Outlook Task with an OS X Note that happened to contain a single task!

Software dies, but software memes (and synchronization problems!) live a lot longer.

So it seems OS X 10.5 Mail.app is slowly turning into a simpler version of Outlook -- now with email, tasks, calendaring (ok, via iCal) and notes.
Meanwhile Google Apps is turning into a Sharepoint clone.

It's sure going be interesting to see how this all plays out with the iPhone.

OS X really does need an uninstaller

Found in \Library\Application Support: iWork '06 "iWork Tour" - 256MB.

iWork was pre-installed on my MacBook (demo-ware). I dragged it to the trash and deleted it.

This is how the GBs go. I'm sure I'll find more of these as I browse through the root Library. It doesn't take all that long, but we shouldn't need to do this kind of cleanup of Apple's own trash.

OS X really does need a proper uninstaller.

Parallels to VMware - my experience

As part of my move from 10.4.11 to 10.5.3 I switched from Parallels (Windows 2000 VM running Office 2003 and MindManager to VMWare Fusion (updated 5/30 for 10.5.3). Here's how it went.

1. Uninstall Parallels prior to the OS update. Don't delete the VM files (Win2K.pvs and W2k.hdd on my disk).
2. Update OS.
3. Download latest version of VMWare Fusion (not the beta though). You need to be a registered user to do this.
4. Install VMWare Fusion.
   
5. Download beta version of VMware Importer tool and install (requires Fusion be installed).
6. Find the Parallels files - Win2K.pvs and W2k.hdd. Drop the PVS file on the importer. The importer then converts the 3.1 GB Parallels file to a 3.4 GB (10% larger) single file stored in a Virtual Machine folder in current_user/Documents. (After I'd finished the entire install, however, the VM file was 4.4 GB, a 33% increase.)
   
7. I double clicked on Win2K (my VM name) and Windows 2000 SP4 launched. Fusion shows an inline reminder to install the VM tools, but after a LONG startup and restart (for Win2K this is a new machine) Fusion installed them automatically. I saw a Windows dialog requesting help with an unrecognized device -- ignore those and let the Fusion tools install and Win2K restart.
8. Shutdown Win2K after this initial install (good practice after initial config), in future just suspend it.
   

After the conversion and setup Win2K SP4 goes from shutdown to running in 30 seconds on my MacBook. Much faster than XP, much less Vista! Of course one would usually suspend the OS when done, not do a shutdown.

Uninstall Palm Desktop for OS X - Of course Palm's directions are wrong.

I'm continuing my post 10.5.3 house cleaning. This evening I noticed my login items list still included 'transport manager', which is part of the Palm HotSync framework for OS X.

I've probably bought at least a dozen PalmOS devices for Emily and I, but the platform died years ago. I've been keeping my personal Palm environment on life support pending iPhone 2.0, but there's no need for any remnants outside of my XP box.

Time for the rebranded version of Claris Organizer, better known as Palm Desktop for OS X to go.

My search for information on uninstalling Palm Desktop for OS X immediately turned up this Palm kb article.

...In the top left corner of the window, click on the dropdown menu and select UNINSTALL. Directly beneath this menu, place a check to select Palm Desktop software...

I went through that procedure, and, surprise, there's no uninstaller.

So I went back and looked for the 2nd result in the search:

Palm Desktop 4.2.1 Rev D for Mac - Download

...Uninstalling Palm Desktop

The installer for Palm Desktop 4.2.1 Rev D does not include an uninstall function. To uninstall Palm Desktop, open your Mac's Applications folder, and drag and drop the Palm folder to the trash. If Palm Desktop is in the Dock, drag its icon off the Dock...

Of course they couldn't have updated their support article -- there's probably nobody left with the password to their kb server.

I deleted the folder. Transport Manager remained as a 'ghost' in one user's login, but there was no file; it was a dangling reference. I removed it. Aside from the Hot Sync conduits, perhaps left deliberately, there wasn't a lot to clean up.

One more step towards extubation ...

OS X 10.5: Apple engineers need more children

I needed to upgrade to 10.5.3 sooner or later (I suspect the iPhone may need 10.5.3 - at least at launch time), but I'd intended to wait until it was absolutely necessary*.

I installed last night because I was enthused about one feature that promised to be of immediate value to us -- time limited child use.

Naturally, it doesn't work quite as well as I'd hoped ...

Be the best you can be: Time limited computer access

.. Since my original post I installed 10.5.1 and upgraded to 10.5.3. I discovered the shortest possible setting for time limited computer access is 30 minutes (per day).

I need a range where the low end is 10 minutes.

Sigh. Apple engineers need more children.

I also don't recommend regular people install an OS X update to an existing system until the DVDs actually ship with 10.5.3 or later. My install experience was unsettling...

Sigh. No Apple engineer should be allowed to work on parental controls unless they at least one child between the ages of 3 and 13.

I wonder if anyone has a hack to change the low end setting.

--

* Even 10.5.3, the 1/2 GB patch, has significant video issues on some relatively recent machines. Apple OS updates are also very expensive, since they may require replacing a range of software and peripherals. I'm still testing which of my things work with 10.5.3, I know that some apps that broke with 10.5.0 will more or less work with 10.5.3. One nice thing about 10.5.3 is it feels "smoother" on my Intel MacBook than 10.4.11. So it's not all bad.

Upgrading to OS X 10.5.1: LaunchDaemons

I try. Really, I try.

I knew 10.5.0 had severe quality problems. I waited until 10.5.3 was out, though the install DVD was still 10.5.1. I even cleaned up prior to installation [1].

Then I did an 'archive and install' ... Oops. I thought the installer would ask me what type of install I was doing. It didn't. Guess I should have read the manual. I ended up unwittingly doing a regular update install. (Yech.)

The install sucked down another 5GB by the way.

So I had an ominous premonition when I was done. Justified.

After installation I tried to log in to my Administrator account, with user name 'Admin'.

My password didn't work.

An empty password didn't work.

I was locked out! My other accounts worked, just not the admin account.

Google sent me directly to the fix ...

Mac OS X 10.5: Unable to log in after an upgrade install

... You may not be able to log in with a user account that has a password of 8 or more characters and was originally created in Mac OS X 10.2.8 or earlier, after performing an upgrade installation of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard (the default installation type)...

... launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist...

So at least this was a well known bug.

I caught it because when I bought my MacBook, I used the firewire migration service to migrate the settings from my iBook to the MacBook. I never had 10.2.8 on the MacBook (it wouldn't have installed anyway), but the iBook started with 10.1. So the glitch was transferred to the MacBook.

A little booby trap, just waiting to detonate when I installed 10.5.1.

Fixing the bug required entering some reasonably convoluted unix commands. The last step in the series resets the admin password. [2]

Yes, as has been known for some time, anyone with access to your machine can reset your admin password, though they won't have access to the admin keychain. (Since I reset the password to the old password, I still have access to the admin keychain).

Now I've installed 10.5.3.

More on that later.

If you haven't updated to 10.5, I'd suggest waiting until Apple starts shipping DVDs with 10.5.3. "Leopard" was a really buggy OS update, a kind of mini-Vista.

[1] Cleanup

1. Uninstall Parallels 2.5.
2. Check for Input Managers and remove them (l found smart crash reporter.)
3. Remove contextual menu items
4. Remove Preference Panes
5. Repeat for both admin and my primary account.
6. Do a safe boot (hold shift on start) to run maintenance checks.
7. Delete all apps I suspect won't work with 10.5.1 or that I don't often use.
   
8. Reboot into admin

[2] I suspect that if one has encrypted one's home directory, then one would be, technically speaking, screwed.

Update 6/17/11: Years later my iMac started handing at startup. It passed hardware tests, I couldn't find an easy fix, so I archived and installed. Right. That's why I'm back.

The horrid Apple fix worked again. This time though I created a fresh administrator account before I upgraded to 10.5.8. I'll delete the old, contaminated account. Should have done that years ago.

How to uninstall Parallels Desktop for OS X

Uninstall is not an OS X strength.

It's not quite as bad as OS/2, where nothing could be uninstalled, but it's not good. (Note to self: this was a bad sign about how finished OS/2 was. Don't forget this.) Perfectly behaved apps can be simply deleted, but those are less common that one would imagine. Even Apple apps aren't all that well behaved.

Applications like Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion are particularly worrisome. You know these things are messing with the deep OS.

The good news is that there is an uninstaller -- it's in the DMG file. The bad news is that it's surprisingly hard to find out about this. Google failed completely, and it took several searches through the Parallels kb to find this article (VMWare Fusion was marginally better at providing the same info):

KB #5027 - What is the recommended policy of updating to Mac OS X Leopard with Parallels Desktop installed?

... Please uninstall Parallels Desktop from Mac OS Tiger using the program's Uninstaller script located in the distribution package (.dmg or CD) before running Leopard update. Keep in mind that you should use Uninstaller of the same program version you have installed or newer, using Uninstaller from the outdated package may cause unexpected issues with removing the program. The uninstall procedure doesn't affect your existing Virtual Machines.

BTW, this is the first place I read that you should uninstall Parallels before upgrading to 10.5. I'm battered enough to routinely clean out complex things before an OS update, but I suspect that most Parallels users, geeky as they are, missed this.

Yes, I am now moving to 10.5. It's not just that 10.5.3 finally came out, it's also that I really want the parental time-limited access controls.

With 10.5.3 I'm switching to VMWare Fusion -- mostly because the people I read like it better. I've already noticed, however, that Fusion is much pickier about Windows OSs than Parallels. It won't work with older versions of Windows 2000, for example. A point for Parallels I've not seen mentioned elsewhere, but since I've already bought Fusion I'm going to give it a try.