ActiveNote

Being organized and prioritizing the tasks at hand, can increase the productivity and efficiency, and give short boosts of confidence, that the work it's done in time. However, not everyone is good at remembering all the active chores, so opting for a specialized tool can help handle them easier.

ActiveNote for Windows 8 is a straightforward and self-explanatory application that comes lightweight to provide an easily and fast method to enter and organize multiple tasks and set alarms based on their priority. Being installed through the Store, the app doesn't take up much space on the computer, nor leaves any files after unistallement.

The offered layout is plain and clean divided into three distinct sections, active, complete, and today, a quick add bar, on the right side of the panel, while on the left, you can view the time and date. Anyone can use ActiveNote, as it offers elementary functions, without bringing unnecessary and complicated elements.

To get started, just type in the note text in the displayed bar, and a pop-up menu is showed, where you can select the creation and due dates, description, and optionally, a live notification, which repeats at a specific interval. From the settings, you are able to change the colors for the active, overdue, completed and deleted notations, and set a boundary time interval.

Unfortunately, the database can't be synced with a personal account, backed up, nor exported to various file formats, like TXT, DOC or RTF. The tool doesn't let you pick a custom sound alarm for reminders, or customize the interface look, font types, and tones. Plus, it would've been a good addition if an encryption or protection system was implemented, to keep your data away from prying eyes.

The bottom line is that ActiveNote is a practical yet plain program designed only for those who like a simple utility to quickly view and keep track of various tasks, assignments, and manage completed ones.