Personal Information Manager
A Personal Information Manager ( English for personal information manager ), short- PIM is a software organization, the personal data such as contacts, appointments, tasks and notes and managed. It is the electronic version of an organizer .
Features and functions
PIM software can be designed for individual users as well as for operation in networks ( LAN or WAN ). User administration plays an important role in network solutions, since every user wants to manage their own data and not all users should view or edit all data. PIM software also plays an important role on handheld computers, PDAs , smartphones and even cell phones .
Since a lot of different data has to be managed, the memory management of PIM software is subject to particularly high demands. From the user's point of view, the ergonomics of the user interface is also important. Well-known examples of PIM user interfaces are:
- Rolodex : PIMs of this type are based on rotatable index card systems.
- Filofax : PIMs of this type are based on ring binder-like paper organizers.
- Outliner : PIMs of this type use a tree-like navigation structure, similar to the structure of a website on the Internet.
conditions
In addition to basic functions for managing addresses, appointments, tasks and notes, other PIM functions are often required:
- Support of self-defined data fields in address management
- Ability to save images and manage them
- Reminder function at certain times for appointments and birthdays
- Import and export of data
- Synchronization or data exchange with mobile devices such as Blackberry, Palm and Pocket PC devices as well as mobile phones
- Management of electronic documents such as faxes , e-mails , web feeds or newsgroup entries.
Common PIMs
| program | operating system | License | properties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iCal with address book and mail | Mac OS X | proprietary | Addresses, tasks, calendar / appointments, mails, notes, RSS feeds |
| EGroupware | platform independent | proprietary, GPL | Addresses, tasks, CMS , document management, calendar / appointments, mails, messages, project managers, resource management, timesheets, wiki, knowledge base |
| evolution | Linux | Free software , GPL | Addresses, tasks, calendar / appointments, mails, messages, notes, RSS, newsreader |
| Contact | Unix, Linux / KDE, Mac OS X, Windows | free software, GPL | Addresses, tasks, calendar / appointments, mails, messages, notes, weather |
| Lotus organizer | Windows | proprietary | Addresses, tasks, calendar / appointments, notes |
| Microsoft Outlook | Windows, Mac OS X | proprietary | Addresses, tasks, journal, calendar / appointments, mails, notes |
| Mozilla Sunbird | platform independent | free software, GPL | Tasks, calendar / appointments |
| Mozilla Thunderbird with Lightning | platform independent | free software, GPL | Addresses, tasks, calendar / appointments, mails, messages, notes, RSS |
| Open-Xchange and MailXchange | platform independent | free software, GPL | Addresses, tasks, document management, calendar / appointments, mails, widgets |
| Palm Desktop | Windows / Mac OS | Supplied with Palm pocket computer | Addresses, tasks, calendar, notes |
| PhpGroupWare | platform independent | free software, GPL | Addresses, tasks, document / bookmark management, calendar / appointments, mails, project manager, wiki, knowledge base, chat, helpdesk / trouble ticket system |
| Task warrior | Linux, semi-cross-platform ( Windows Subsystem for Linux , Cygwin ) | free software, MIT license | Time and task management with a command line interface |
Market situation
Microsoft Outlook has dominated the PIM software segment for years . This program is part of the Microsoft Office package and is therefore widely used. There are also alternative proprietary products for professional use.
The free office packages OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice do not contain their own PIM, but there are alternative PIM software such as Kontact , Evolution and Mozilla Thunderbird with the extension (add-on) Lightning as a replacement.
Web PIMs
So-called web PIMs are servers that are used via web browsers . After you have logged in with your password, you will find a familiar working environment with all your addresses and appointments.
The main advantage is that the availability of the data does not depend on the availability of the personal computer. A web PIM on the Internet can be used worldwide with any device that can access the Internet and display websites. The disadvantage is that the availability of the data depends on the availability of the server and the network connection.
An early solution of this kind is OpenMail . GroupWise has offered web browser access since 1996. Outlook Web Access has also been available since 1998 . In the meantime there is also corresponding software that is free or even open source , for example phpGroupWare . What they all have in common is the additional advantage that they manage the data of several users who can therefore use data together.
There are now on the Internet and free services that can be combined into a usable via web browser PIM, such as Google and Yahoo . The use of such a service provider, however, requires trust in its integrity.
The dynamic development of web applications means that web PIMs are growing together with other web applications. So combined z. B. Airset the functions of a PIM with those of one or more social networks and cloud computing .
See also
- List of Personal Information Managers
- Groupware
- Outline editor , an electronic note box
- iCalendar , a data format for exchanging calendar information (* .ics)
- vCard , a data format for exchanging contact data (* .vcf)
literature
- Bill Dyszel: Outlook 2007 for Dummies . 1st edition, Wiley-VCH, 2007, ISBN 3-527-70309-8 .
- Seiwert, Wöltje, Obermeyr: Time management with Microsoft Office Outlook . 5th edition, Microsoft Press, 2007, ISBN 3-86645-417-1 .
- Steffen Buzin: New interface concepts for email managers . 1st edition, Vdm Verlag Dr. Müller, 2007, ISBN 3-8364-1136-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Airset your own personal cloud computer , accessed on September 20, 2010