This might seem a little weird, but I have another winner in the Note managment side of things.  Yesterday I talked about Notebook being the winner for Note taking software, and it still is, but I have a change in mind.  Note management can take the form of any different metaphors.  For some people a notebook metaphor works best for them, but I am project based more often than not.  Project based systems work with collections of documents for a single purpose, and being able to search through all documents is more important than organizing everything.

The winner in the category is Eaglefiler.  It wins because of two considerations.  It does not force me iinto some kind of mental gymnastics to make everything work.  Eaglefiler works like a super-directory list.  In fact the libraries are directories that contain certain files.  Everything moved into Eaglefiler is actually copied and placed into subdirectories of the library.  The thing that makes eagle filer a little different from a directory list is the ability to make rtfd documents from within the software.  The directory list is a view on the EagleFiler database.  Searches are fast, but only on titles in the database.  Spotlight search if you want to search the insides of documents.

The interesting thing about EagleFiler is the ability to tag files for use in smart folders, something you can’t do in OSX, just yet.  You can even move files into the library with drag and drop.  the problem with other applications is that they want to import the file into their system.  I want to be able to work with the file from inside the note managment system.  You can’t work with a file if it is in a database, somewhere.  I’d rather work with linked files.  At least I can find them easily within the EagleFiler window.

Eaglefiler does not have the forms that other programs have, and it really isn’t a database in the traditional sense as bento and yojimbo are.  It’s that rare program that gets out of your way to allow you work as you like with it.  If you’re not interested in a notebook metaphor system, then take a look at EagleFiler
EDIT————————————————————
I made a statement earlier in the entry and I want to correct it. Rather than correct it in a hidden fashion, I wanted to show the correction. Earlier I said that EagleFiler does not search inside the documents, and I was in error on that score. Eagle Filer does indeed search inside the documents, which makes all that much better if searching your notes is what you need and want.