[jasong]

I've just started playing with The Hit List a few days ago, and I find the interface rather appealing. It (along with Things) generally feels like a native Mac OS X app; OmniFocus generally feels like a pre-Mac OS X app brought forward.

Of course, I'm a long-time OF user, and I don't see myself leaving it anytime soon, though an interface overhaul would be greatly appreciated!

One reason I won't be leaving OF is because it actually works as a GTD application. The others are really cool "to do" applications which don't seem to understand the idea of GTD.

For example The Hit List doesn't provide a way of moving items in your Inbox out of your inbox easily (that is, process your Inbox to zero). If you find that an item is a project, you have to:

1. Create a new project ("list") (command-shift-N)
2. Return to the inbox (command-option-1)
3. Enter File mode (F)
4. Enter the name of the project you're filing to

In OF, you

1. Press command-[. The item selected is moved into your projects list.

Another example of not-good-for-GTD is THL's inexplicable insistence on showing items which have a start date in the future in my list of actions. Not seeing actions you can't do is a basic GTD principle.

I fully understand it's an early beta, it just seems inexcusable to release a "GTD" application that, for me, is unusable for GTD.

There are a lot of other reason not to like THL, and one big one to like it: it's a beautiful application. The subtle animation, the large text, the card view... it feels great.

If THL adds many of the basic GTD-ish features to move it out of the "powerful to-do list" category, OF will have a true contender.