Free office programs for Windows. Program for archiving documents

Software packages for working with text, spreadsheets, presentations and databases, integrated into a single complex.

Today, most PC users have a printer at their disposal, with which you can print not only text, but also a variety of booklets, brochures, and illustrations. And that's what print programs are for. This category of software is divided into two groups: design packages and printer utilities. Design packages allow the user to quickly and easily create a variety of projects, ranging from simple calendars and postcards to spectacularly designed brochures. Typically, such programs contain a wide range of templates that allow you to solve the above tasks. But if the user does not have enough built-in tools, then he can easily create his own template. Printer utilities are used by users who are satisfied with the capabilities of the standard application where they are used to working. Software products in this category work as virtual printer drivers, intercepting pages sent for printing, which it rebuilds in accordance with the settings made. As a result, the processed data is not printed in the usual way, but in the form of brochures, double-sided booklets, postcards, or any other products.

Many programs have been developed that work with the PDF format. The simplest of these programs perform the viewing and creation of new PDF documents, and can also convert the contents of the document to another format or vice versa. There are programs that allow you to edit and add text, objects, images, stamps, and links to a PDF document. Some programs have the ability to split and merge documents of this format, extract individual pages and objects from it. With the help of more professional programs, you can add watermarks, logos and headers and footers. Many have the ability to batch process a large number of documents. Professional PDF programs allow you to create forms. After that, you can provide them to customers for filling. Many programs have digital rights management features. Digital rights in such programs allow you to put a ban on extracting text and pictures from a PDF document, as well as to prohibit printing. There are also server programs for the PDF format. In such applications, you can create documents on the server side. Moreover, you can view this document even from a client machine that does not have the full version of the Acrobat application.

Working with documents takes a lot of time from users, especially office workers. But there are many programs that can significantly optimize manual labor when working with documents by automating some processes. Many of these solutions are easy to use, very convenient and inexpensive, and therefore available to a wide range of users. These programs will be discussed in this article.

Document organization

Users who have to deal with a large number of electronic documents are well aware of the situation when, despite the strict system of directories and subdirectories, it takes a lot of time to find the right document. One of the solutions to this problem is the use of a special cataloging program, the main task of which is to organize and sort the data, which ultimately ensures a quick search for the necessary information. There are a huge number of such catalogers on the market, and all of them are focused on cataloging either disks, folders and files, or some highly specialized information (movies, coins, stamps, etc.). Any universal cataloger that allows you to catalog folders and files of different types is suitable for cataloging documents. The WhereIsIt package (http://www.whereisit-soft.com/) is considered the best among such solutions, but it is quite expensive, and its capabilities are clearly redundant for many users. For most, it will be enough to use the WinCatalog Standard package.

Another way is to combine related documents into complex hierarchically structured documents stored inside data files corresponding to these structures. In such structured documents, it is much more convenient to navigate and find the information you need due to both structuring and advanced search capabilities within the document. In addition, such structuring allows you to perform an external search and search for documents by fragments of the text included in them. For example, the Maple package is designed to create hierarchically structured documents.

WinCatalog Standard

Developer: WinCatalog.com

Distribution size: 1.62 MB

Work under control: Windows 95/98/2000/Me/NT4.0/XP

Distribution method: http://www.wincatalog.com/ru/download/wincatalogs10ru.exe)

Price: 200 rub.

WinCatalog Standard is an easy-to-use multifunctional cataloger with a clear Russian-language interface (Fig. 1). The package allows you to catalog data from any media that can be connected to your computer: floppy disks, hard and network drives, regular CDs and audio CDs, Zip disks, etc. With it, you can sort and organize any folders and files, regardless of their location. You can enter data into the catalog either manually (immediately into virtual folders) or by scanning disks (including Zip archives located there) - in this case, it is better to sort the folders and files extracted from the disks into virtual folders for ease of orientation, which, thanks to support drag & drop operations won't take long.

Rice. 1. WinCatalog Standard interface

General directory management is easy and convenient. Dividing data into thematic folders greatly simplifies orientation, and the placement of folders and their nested items is easy to change with a simple drag and drop. Advanced search (by name, comment, size and modified date; Fig. 2), which supports Boolean operations and the ability to select a specific folder for search, as well as taking into account keywords (they can be prudently added to individual catalog items), allows you to quickly find the desired document , and the search for duplicates is to remove duplicate elements from the collection. Exporting all or part of the documentation catalog to a CVS file allows data to be processed in another application (for example, MS Excel), while exporting to an HTML file is convenient for printing the catalog.

Rice. 2. Search for documents in WinCatalog Standard

Maple 6.25

Developer: Crystal Office Systems

Distribution size: Maple - 5.3 MB, Maple Professional - 5.89 MB

Work under control: Windows (all versions)

Distribution method: shareware (30 day demo: Maple - http://www.crystaloffice.com/maple.exe , Maple Professional - http://www.crystaloffice.com/maplepro.exe)

Price: Maple - $21.95, Maple Professional - $30.95

Maple is an easy-to-use document manager that allows you to combine diverse materials into hierarchical structures and get structured documents as a result: business plans, reports, analytical notes, brochures, etc. In such hierarchical document trees, diverse information is presented more clearly, and it is much easier to find any document than with standard cataloging. To view documents created in Maple, you need a special Maple Reader, which can be downloaded for free at: http://www.crystaloffice.com/mreader.exe (2.51 MB). The package has a friendly interface (Fig. 3) and is so easy to learn that even the lack of Russian-language localization of the program will not become an obstacle for most users, and therefore this solution can be recommended to the widest audience.

Rice. 3. Maple program interface

The manager is presented in two versions: basic Maple and extended Maple Professional. Among the fundamental differences of the extended version is the presence of such additional functions as document search, grammar check, file encryption and reservation of hierarchical structures.

The basis of any document in Maple is a hierarchical tree of nodes, the nesting level of subnodes in which, as well as their number, is not limited. Each node is a separate document containing not only text (whether typed directly, pasted from the clipboard, or imported from documents in RTF, DOC, WRI, and HTML formats), but also tabular material, graphics, links to basic fragments of the final document or files, and etc. When preparing documents, it is possible to use a standard set of functions for working with text: changing the type and size of the font, creating lists, designing paragraphs, using styles, etc. Integration with MS Word allows you to use the spell checker built into MS Word to check grammar and search for synonyms not only on English, but also in Russian. The built-in backup system provides the ability to create compressed backup copies of hierarchical documents (in ZIP and CAB formats). The built-in Encryption Wizard helps you encrypt sensitive documents using the Blowfish cryptographic algorithm. And the Finder search module allows you to quickly find the necessary documents by name fragment, author, comments, content (Fig. 4), etc.

Rice. 4. Search for documents by content
in them text in Maple

Quick access to documents

The technology of computer preparation of documents assumes that the created documents are repeatedly used in the future. For example, when developing a new document, you may need one or two paragraphs from yesterday's document, or the new document is generally a copy of the old one, but with changed variable information, etc.

Unfortunately, the user is far from always able to remember the name of the important document created the day before yesterday, and sometimes has no idea where to look for it. Of course, you need to give documents meaningful names and save them in a neat catalog, but, alas, it happens otherwise, due to haste, distracting calls, etc. As a result, it can take a lot of precious time to search for the required document - after all, it is not at all a fact that you will be able to open it through the list of Windows links to the latest documents available through the Start menu. The point is that this list:

limited to 15 documents - this means that the probability of getting into it documents, for example, a week ago is almost zero;
does not allow you to locate the document if you remember part of the text, but forgot the file name;
does not include documents of the same name (however different) saved under the same name but in different folders, which is relevant, for example, when working together on a document with the formation of several versions.

There is one more problem - the list of recent documents provided in Windows is one of the channels for leaking confidential data, since any user (including an intruder) can use it to find out about the nature of the computer activity of the owner. Therefore, this list is recommended to be cleared regularly, for example, using utilities to remove "junk" data from the disk. As a result, a seemingly paradoxical situation arises: if a user regularly destroys information about recently used documents for security purposes, then he loses quick access to them, and otherwise risks becoming a victim of intruders. However, there is a way out - you can use the specialized utility ActualDoc, which expands the capabilities of Windows in terms of working with the latest documents.

If the desired document was created a long time ago and therefore cannot appear in the list of recently opened documents (both built-in in Windows and in the ActualDoc list), then you will have to resort to searching for it. Here another problem arises - as a rule, the user does not remember the name of the document (as well as the date of its creation), but he knows what keywords are found in the text. This means that you need to search for a document by fragments of the text included in it - alas, although this task can be solved using the built-in tools of Windows or, for example, Word, it is very mediocre. And the point is not only that such a search is not entirely obvious and is performed slowly - sometimes you can put up with this. It is much more important that not all files will be found - the morphological features of the Russian language will not be taken into account during the search, so files in which the searched words have a different case ending will not be found. At the same time, specialized search utilities such as Isleuthhound (http://www.isleuthhound.com/ru/), Superior Search (http://superiorsearch.ru/), Archivist 3000 and Phoenix Search (http ://indexlab.net/) can quickly find the documents they need, regardless of their location. The package "Archivarius 3000" seems to us to be the most attractive among the named solutions in terms of "price/quality" ratio.

ActualDoc 3.5

Developer: Flexigen Software

Distribution size: Standard - 4.1 MB, Professional - 3.6 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista

Distribution method: Standard - freeware (http://www.flexigensoft.com/files/download/actualdoc-standard.exe), Professional - shareware (14 day demo - http://www.flexigensoft.com/files/download/ actualdoc.exe)

Price: Standard is free, Professional is $19.95

ActualDoc is a recent document manager that remembers used documents and provides quick and secure access to them. The program is simple and intuitive, has a friendly interface with support for the Russian language (Fig. 5) and practically does not require time to master, especially since it is accompanied by a comprehensive help system, and therefore can become an indispensable tool for both professionals and home users.

Rice. 5. ActualDoc program interface

ActualDoc keeps track of the download of an unlimited number of documents within a user-specified period (by default - 60 days), supports more than 40 file formats (text and image files, MS Office documents and HTML documents, PDF files, etc.) and allows you to quickly download any of them. Finding the right document in the program environment is not a problem. If the scroll of documents she memorized is relatively small, then you can select a document directly from the list. Otherwise, it is more reasonable to preliminarily limit the list of possible applicants by filtering it (filtering by time period is possible). about interval, by extension and category) or search by the name of the document (in general terms) or by a fragment of the text included in it (however, the search in the Russian text is not always successful). There is another way to quickly open the desired document - through the built-in bookmarks (the same as in Internet Explorer; Fig. 6), which can be assigned to individual frequently used documents and significantly speed up access to them, since there is no need to search. The selected document is available in the built-in viewer - for viewing, searching and copying, as well as in an external application - for editing and can be used for complete processing, selective copying of information from it or for sending a document by e-mail. At the same time, the list of documents itself can be hidden from prying eyes and protected by a password - in this case, recently used files will not be displayed in the menu Start -> Documents.

Rice. 6. Opening a document through a bookmark
in ActualDoc

The package comes in two versions: free basic Standard and paid Professional. The features of the free version do not allow you to view documents in the built-in viewers, use the search function (as a result, you can only search for documents visually, viewing the full or filtered list), create custom categories, and edit bookmarks.

Archivist 3000 (3.82)

Developer: Likasoft

Distribution size: 3 MB

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista

Distribution method: shareware (30 day demo - http://www.likasoft.com/download/arch3000-ru.exe)

Price: student license - 195 rubles, personal license - 295 rubles, commercial license - 900 rubles.

« Archivarius 3000 is the optimal solution for quick search of documents in 18 different languages (including Russian, English, German and French), aimed at a wide range of users. The program provides instant access to documents located on the hard drive, network and removable drives (CD, DVD, ZIP, etc.), and can work with all popular types of documents (PDF files, MS Office documents, text files, etc.) .). It can search archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), email messages (Outlook, Outlook Express, The Bat!, etc.) and attached files. In addition, searches are supported in the Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino databases and in the ICQ, Odigo IM and Miranda IM message databases.

Along with the usual search by a keyword or a set of keywords, the program supports an advanced search mode using logical functions and can search for documents not only by content, but also by file name, modification date, size, document type, encoding, etc. ( Fig. 7). Thanks to full Unicode support, the search is correctly performed not only in documents in one language, but also in multilingual ones (for example, with text in Russian and German at the same time). It is possible to remotely search for documents via the Internet with subsequent access to the found documents through any Internet browser, such as Internet Explorer. Search results can be presented in excerpt mode, when the most significant (relevant) fragments of selected documents are displayed with highlighting of found words, and in table mode, when brief information about documents is displayed (Fig. 8), by which they can be sorted.

Rice. 7. Search for documents in the Archivist 3000 environment

Rice. 8. Options for presenting search results
in "Archivarius 3000"

Filling out standard documents

The preparation of standard documents takes a significant part of the time for those users who, on duty, are engaged in the preparation of various documentation in insurance companies, banks, notary offices, companies providing various kinds of services, etc. As a rule, such documents are created in the Word text editor based on the initially developed base documents, in which some variable information is simply replaced. There is nothing complicated about this, but with large volumes of documentation, errors are inevitable - for example, you can accidentally enter data in the wrong place where they are supposed to be, or erase a few words of the document, etc. Therefore, it is desirable that only those fields in which data should be entered be open for input, and all other text be blocked. The possibility of creating such documents in Word by developers is provided. It is enough to develop a series of templates for all standard documents used in the organization, for each template to prohibit changing permanent data (command Tools -> Set Protection -> Forbid any changes other than entering data into form fields) and train users to create documents from templates. For typical documents, where there is relatively little variable information, such templates will be quite enough to significantly speed up the process of preparing documents and reduce the risk of errors.

However, in practice, many standard documents are used, in which variable information occupies up to half of the volume, and some of the variable data in one form or another is repeatedly repeated (Fig. 9) - for example, full name. in different cases, writing for entered dates or amounts, etc. In this case, the use of Word templates does little, since filling out documents even through templates will take a lot of time, because all variable data will have to be entered manually.

Rice. 9. An example of a document with a large volume
variable information

There is one more feature of the execution of standard documents - often it is required to prepare not one document, but several at once (for example, to draw up a bank agreement on opening a depository, three or four types of agreements are needed for signing). Thus, the same information has to be entered into different documents, which also takes a lot of time, and the probability of making an error increases accordingly. It is much faster to draw up such documents using specialized applications designed to automate the process of preparing standard documents, such as AvtoDoc or Blitz Document, for example. These applications are also based on the use of templates, which, unlike conventional Word templates, not only allow you to enter data in the fields designated for this (for which the user needs to fill out a set of forms with data), but also know how to convert the entered data in a programmed way, for example they can replace the number in words, declension words and phrases according to grammatical cases, etc. As a result, the necessary documents are filled out quickly, and the number of errors that can be made in this case turns out to be an order of magnitude less than when they are traditionally prepared in Word. In addition, the creation of standard documents through specialized solutions is also attractive because all created documents are automatically cataloged and in the future it is not a problem to find any of them, and the user does not need to know the intricacies of documentation, because all legal nuances are already taken into account in the templates.

AutoDoc 1.2

Developer: EleWise

Distribution size: 6 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000/XP/2003

Distribution method: shareware (functionally limited demo - http://www.auto-doc.ru/download/autodoc/AutoDoc_Demo.exe)

Price:"AutoDoc-Personal" - 1980 rubles, "AutoDoc-Server" - 2980 rubles, "AutoDoc-Client" - 1490 rubles.

AutoDoc is a program that allows you to automate and speed up the process of filling out standard documents using templates created using MS Word and keeping an archive of documents and records made using these templates. The process of generating new documents in it is extremely automated - just select the desired business scenario from the general list of scenarios (a business scenario is a customized template) and fill in the input form with the required data (Fig. 10). The created document can be viewed, saved, printed or opened in Word for further editing.

Rice. 10. Creating a document according to the scenario "AutoDoc"

The number of built-in scripts is small (Fig. 11), but can be expanded with custom scripts, the creation process of which is presented in detail and visually in the help and is fully controlled by the wizard, and therefore is accessible to most users. Developing a new scenario involves five steps: entering the name of the scenario, creating a template, defining variables, setting up and testing the scenario and saving it for further editing (Fig. 12). At first glance, preparing a template can cause some difficulties, since it must be created manually in Word, and this requires knowledge of the scripting language. But in practice, everything is much simpler - it is enough to understand that variables are entered in curly brackets, and the $ sign is set in front of them, all other text is printed in the usual way (Fig. 13). New templates can be created not only from scratch, but also based on existing templates or ready-made documents - in the first case, you only need to change the script settings and test it with the changed settings, and in the second, open the finished document, replace the changing information with variables and specify it program as a template. Variables can be of several types, including those allowing:

enter data in several fields at once: full name, passport data, details of the organization, etc.;
select a variable value from a set of values;
perform various operations and conversions: calculate the percentage of a number or VAT from an amount, convert a number to a string, enter the current date, etc.;
indicate a word or phrase in a certain case, etc.

Documents created according to AutoDoc business scenarios are saved as clearly structured records, and therefore at any time you can find the desired document by filtering or searching, view it, print it, regenerate or delete it.

Rice. 11. The "AutoDoc" window with a list of built-in groups
business scenarios

Rice. 12. Development of a new scenario in "AutoDoc"

Rice. 13. An example of the template text in "AutoDoc",
in which four variables appear: "number",
"month", "organization" and "full name"

The program is supplied in two versions: single-user - "AutoDoc-Personal" and multi-user (network), represented by two modules - "AutoDoc-Server" and "AutoDoc-Client". In the single-user version, all system components are located on the local computer, while in the multi-user version, the base of scripts, templates, and records is installed on the server, and only the client part is installed on user computers, which allows using all the AutoDoc materials stored on the server.

Blitz Document 3.4.1

Developer: BlitzSoft

Distribution size: 991 KB

Work under control: Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista

Distribution method: shareware (functionally limited demo version - http://blitz-doc.ru/insblitz.exe)

Price: 500 rub.

Blitz Document is a compact program for automatically compiling standard documents using script templates. It allows you to quickly generate documents based on more than 30 built-in templates (Fig. 14), or custom scripts that can be developed based on built-in templates or blank layouts. Creating a document according to a ready-made scenario is extremely simple - just select the type of scenario and follow the instructions of the wizard, which will faithfully guide the user through all the stages of document preparation (Fig. 15). The finished document can be viewed, printed, edited in the built-in text editor (both variable and permanent data can be corrected) or opened for editing in Word.

Rice. 14. List of built-in scripts Blitz Document

Rice. 15. Create a scripted document
Blitz document

The development of the created templates is somewhat more complicated, but will also be within the power of most users. True, mastering this feature will take some time, since, unfortunately, the reference information attached to the program is designed for sufficiently trained users (it is very stingy and does not contain illustrations or examples). Technically, the creation of a new template consists of two stages: the choice of a built-in template or layout, on the basis of which a new template will be developed, and the consistent adjustment of the constant and variable data included in it (Fig. 16). Permanent data is entered in their real form, but not directly into the text, but through dialog boxes. Variable information is also corrected during the dialogue and is no longer entered directly, but is replaced by variables with wildcard labels, designed taking into account the scripting language used in the program. Scripts can not only display the text entered during the generation of the document, but also change it using a system of commands for substituting data or converting them. For example, it is provided:

Rice. 16. Development of a new template based on the layout
in Blitz Document

declension of words and phrases by grammatical cases;
converting numbers to strings;
translation of calendar dates into strings;
performing any calculations used in legal and business documents;
changing the text depending on the value of the entered data, etc.

Documents created using Blitz Document are stored in structured ledgers - this allows you to quickly navigate through the documentation and almost instantly get access to the necessary materials, for example, in order to print them. In addition, documents can be grouped into virtual cases, which is convenient for quick access to materials related to a particular subject or object appearing in the database.

OCR in scanned documents

Users who often need to convert paper documents into an editable electronic format (pages of a book, newspaper, magazine or fax) cannot do without a character recognition system, or OCR system (Optical Character Recognition), designed to automatically enter texts of paper documents into a computer. Theoretically, you can use the FineReader program from ABBYY or CuneiForm from Cognitive Technologies - both are reliable in operation and are distinguished by high recognition accuracy. But the FineReader package has a simplified and affordable ABBYY FineReader 8.0 Home Edition, which makes it more attractive to a wide audience.

ABBYY FineReader 8.0

Developer: ABBYY Software

Distribution size: 40.5 MB

Work under control: Windows 98/Me/NT4.0/2000/XP

Distribution method: shareware (no demo version of FineReader Home Edition, functionally limited demo version of FineReader Professional Edition - http://www.abbyy.ru/download/?param=45793)

Price: FineReader Home Edition - 990 rubles, FineReader Professional Edition - 3750 rubles.

ABBYY FineReader is an ideal solution for recognizing documents that recognize not only text, but also design, which ensures accurate transmission of tables, pictures, and text division into columns (Fig. 17). The program is easy to use, able to recognize multilingual (179 languages supported) and multi-page documents. It is possible to recognize the entire document or its individual pages. The result can be saved in one of the common formats: RTF, DOC, XLS, HTML, TXT or PDF. It is possible to save the recognition results step by step to eliminate errors. Implemented export of recognition results directly to Microsoft Word, Excel, Lotus Word Pro, Corel WordPerect and Adobe Acrobat. The built-in spell checker (for 36 languages) will help speed up the result check, and integration with Microsoft Word allows you to call the program directly from Word, without being distracted from working with text.

Rice. 17. Result of document recognition
in ABBYY FineReader Home Edition

The program is presented in two versions: FineReader Home Edition, designed for beginners, and FineReader Professional Edition, aimed at professionals. The professional version allows you to manage recognition parameters (change the mode, perform recognition with training) and has a richer set of recognition functions (recognition of PDF files, texts taken with a digital camera, etc.). In addition, the Professional Edition provides more different save formats, added the ability to recognize barcodes and quickly recognize screenshots using the Screenshot Reader utility.

Converting documents from PDF format

All technical documentation is now available in PDF format, which uses the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view documents. But quite often there is a need to use fragments of PDF files when preparing your own documents or editing materials in PDF format (for example, articles, contracts, reports, etc.). In the first case, you will need to extract text fragments and / or images from PDF files (theoretically, this can be done using the built-in tools of Acrobat Reader, but with a very mediocre result). In the second case, you will have to convert PDF documents to an editable format (for example, to Word format) while maintaining the design of the original document, which is not even provided for in Acrobat Reader. In such cases, special utilities will come to the rescue, of which the ABBYY PDF Transformer and PDF2Word packages (http://www.toppdf.com/pdf2word/index.html) seem to be the most attractive. We will consider the first of them - although it is more expensive, it has a Russian-language interface and allows you to convert PDF files into several editable formats, and it can correctly recognize not only English, but also Russian text.

ABBYY PDF Transformer 2.0

Developer: ABBYY Software

Distribution size: 52 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000 (SP2 or higher)/XP/Server 2003

Distribution method: shareware (15-day demo - http://www.abbyy.ru/pdftransformer/?param=35957)

Price: 1490 rub.

ABBYY PDF Transformer is a utility for converting PDF documents into Microsoft Word document formats (Fig. 18), Excel, as well as into HTML and TXT files. The package has an intuitive interface and is very easy to use, and therefore its development will be within the power of even novice users.

ABBYY PDF Transformer can convert any PDF files, including files without a text layer (such files are most often obtained from scanned documents and represent text images), and correctly process PDF files containing any combination of supported languages (including Russian and English). The utility accurately preserves the design of the original document (pictures, tables, columns, links) and allows you to manage conversion and saving options. For example, you can clearly define areas that should be perceived by the program as text or as an image (which is important for PDF files with complex layout), save the finished document with the same layout as in the original, or as a column of text (with or without pictures - optional), etc. If necessary, it is possible to selectively convert individual pages or even their fragments. In addition, ABBYY PDF Transformer can also perform reverse conversion, allowing you to create PDF files from Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Visio diagrams and HTML files, as well as from virtually any application that supports printing a document (this is implemented via the PDF-XChange for ABBYY PDF Transformer 2.0 virtual printer).

No wonder they say that laziness is the engine of progress. Personally, it encourages me to constantly search for some ways to simplify everyday life. Helps me in this internal radar, tuned to the perception of new information. As soon as I hear about something new in an area of interest to me, I try to immediately check whether it will be useful for me.

Sometimes I consciously look for solutions to organize information, the flow of which overflows daily and hourly. And then I try to dig up more, select the best options and try them out in practice in order to stop at the most convenient one and use it for a long time.

The most amazing thing is that often these programs are very close, you just need another person, free time or a specific task to “discover America” for yourself personally. Since I regularly have to open the eyes of my acquaintances to those tools for organizing information that are at hand and do not even cost money, today I want to talk about the three most powerful of them (in my subjective opinion). Perhaps one of them will be useful to you too.

1. MS OneNote- this is truly an invisible program and a golden find. She lives in the Windows office suite, starting with MS Office 2003, but most of my friends have not heard anything about her. In essence, it is a notepad program with several levels of hierarchy, allowing you to create notebooks, sections, pages, and subpages.

Suitable for organizing and storing any information that usually dangles on your desktop and in "My Documents", at best sorted into folders - text, pictures, entire pages from the Internet directly with links, audio and video files. For example, you can store in it:

information on a specific topic for later selection - if you choose a vacuum cleaner, phone, car or time management courses
information about purchases - where and for how much they bought, warranty periods
information about documents, especially if you often have to fill in some data electronically
information about your clients, students
recipes
plans
any lists:
- wishlist,
- gifts your friends would love
- books that you have read or would like to
- movies you would like to see and your impressions
travel information, travel lists
your diary, key events that you would like to keep in memory, travel notes
abstracts of books read, course notes, your own articles, drafts and sketches
needlework ideas
swipe files
drawings and notes

The possibilities of the program are endless. You can choose the type of "substrate", edit the text in every possible way, make lists with checkboxes (for ticking), drawn notes. You can use tags - keywords, or just use the search.

There are versions for android, iOs and OSX. For Apple lovers, there is also a paid Outline program: for IOS - the full version, for MacOS, only a version for reading ready-made notes is available so far. Its advantage is that notebooks can only be stored on a computer.

I consider the only worthy competitor to OneNote Evernote. You may have seen a green elephant on your phone or tablet - that's her. The essence of the program is the same. Notes are presented in a slightly different format. Initially focused on synchronization with mobile devices via the Internet. She has restrictions on using a free account. But this program can be used both on Apple platforms and on older versions of android.

Linux users can try Keynote(not to be confused with Apple's presentation program) - convenient, but, in my opinion, not as friendly for an unprepared user as the first two.

2. The second most important convenience I consider programs for building memory maps - mind maps. For many years I have been using different programs for graphical representation of various information. In particular:

For article plans
for abstracts of books, lectures, preparation of questions for the exam
detailed planning for achieving goals
event planning
finding solutions

The undisputed leader of such programs, in my opinion, is mind manager- This is the most convenient program, but at the same time the most expensive. Cheaper option - Xmind. It has a free version - you can make maps for your own use, but you won't be able to export to pdf to show to a friend who doesn't have the program installed.

The most affordable option Freemind- it's free, intuitive and suitable for any platform.

3. For a very long time I was looking for a comfortable one for me scheduler. Since I'm not a very rational person, and I have a hard time sticking to a plan, I needed an agile scheduling program that wouldn't become a graveyard of lost cases without being too simplistic. Equally important in this case would be to have synchronization with your phone or tablet so that you can look into it on the go or write something new.

Now there are a huge number of planners of varying degrees of complexity. And, perhaps, my choice will be an unfortunate solution for those who prefer to build all plans in a single structure in one place, or have many tasks tied to time. I prefer daily planning on paper, so the scheduler program serves for me primarily as an overview of all the tasks I have planned (in fact, this is an electronic version of the Autofocus system for me).

So my winner is called wunderlist. At first, the program seemed very simple to me, until I discovered that it had subtasks and a place for additional information. That is, if in the topic “Order” I have the item “Give away unnecessary things for free”, then inside I can make a list of things, as well as a list of places where I can go for this.

In the paid version of the program, you can even attach files and send tasks to other people. Although for most, free will be enough. Despite the fact that the program asks to register, you can use the standalone version of the program indefinitely, and register only when you decide to synchronize information on your computer and phone.

Wunderlist allows you to highlight important events, set deadlines and reminders, including for recurring events.

The program is available for Windows, all Apple platforms, android and as a web application.

Here are the top three. What programs do you use to make your life easier? Write in the comments, I will be glad to learn something new.