[erasure]

Thanks for all the comments.

I have not spent extensive time using other apps (although I did use Mori and iGTD for a while) because I very quickly discover that they do not do what I need them to do.

I have been using OF since it was in beta, so maybe some of the shiny-ness has simply worn off for me.

Dennis, I did a quick search in the forums for UI discussions and came up empty. I'd love to look at some of what's been discussed in the past if you know where some of those threads are.

Templates might help. And, actually, I think Ethan Schoonover and Don MacAllister's videos are probably good starting points.

I guess I was just a little disheartened to see so many people turning away from OF because they thought it was too complicated. But after going back and looking at those reviews again, I think ultimately OF is for a different audience than apps like Things. A lot of the "fiddly" features in OF allow for a level of control that really appeals to some people, while completely overwhelming other people. I'm probably somewhere in between; I never use the "estimated time" field and the only time I touch the inspector window is when I'm setting something to repeat.

But I do think there is some truth to the statement "If OmniFocus were a Microsoft product, Things would be the Apple equivalent. It’s simple, it’s easy to use, and it’s pretty to look at." If you look at the two GUIs, Things is clearly the more streamlined and "pretty" application. And there are lots of little things that are less intuitive in OF, like cmd-N opening a new window rather than a new task (why?), or having to grab the little dot in front of an item in order to move it around. I think I would rather double-click to edit an item, and leave single click for grabbing and moving. And the only reason I know about grabbing the dot is because it was listed as a change in one of the beta releases. Not intuitive.

This is exactly the type of thing that Macs typically do better than Windows: Fewer and more intuitive steps to an action. I think erifneerg might have hit it on the head — it's not extremely difficult to use, but it could use some sprucing up to make it pretty again and to clean up and simplify some of the things that have been added along the way. Here's hoping the upcoming overhaul will take care of that!