People- vs. Project-Centric Email Workflow

Posted by MadaboutDana
Dec 14, 2021 at 09:24 AM

This exchange caused me to go back and take another look at a piece of software I experimented with many years ago: EssentialPIM (available for Windows, Android, iOS), a very capable three-pane outliner (on Windows; on Android and iOS it’s more like a one-pane/two-pane outliner).

I was pleased to see (a) that it’s still up and running, and (b) that it appears to be making steady progress.

It’s an alternative to the Microsoft all-in-one approach originally envisioned in Outlook. Of course Microsoft’s solution has now been profoundly compromised (especially on Mac) as they appear to be trying to drive users into using their online versions of the software – with typically Microsoft-fragmented solutions and results. Enraging!

But EssentialPIM still bundles everything together: task management, contacts, rich-text notes, passwords – and yes, e-mail as well. It’s a remarkably comprehensive package, and can also be run by a small business using a Firebird server (running on Linux, macOS or Windows: Firebird is open-source and cross-platform). This allows you to share most of the data with colleagues across your LAN. EssentialPIM supply a user-friendly version that’s very easy to install and set up.

It’s much cheaper than comparable packages, and uses an excellent rich-text editor for notes across all its modules.

I wouldn’t say it’s suitable for use in big-business environments, but certainly a very reasonable alternative for SMEs. More info on essentialpim.com (for a comparison of Pro with Free editions – yes, there is a free edition – see https://www.essentialpim.com/pc-version/pro-vs-free).

There is even an online offering (EPIM Cloud), although I’ve not tried it.

Cheers,
Bill