8 ms·

Welcome to Microsoft To-Do

16 points by Jaruzel 9y ago

borne0 9y ago
I'm not sure why you linked to this, but it like most to-do apps is far too simple. If I have a to-do to load my laundry, why can't it trigger a timer to remind me in 30 minutes to switch to the dryer, and then once that's marked as done another timer to take it out of the dryer? So many to-do apps, I don't think one has solid conditional tasks or robust scheduling (repeat on 1st Monday after 60 days has passed, etc).
- O_H_E 9y ago
  Todoist is the "closest" I could get to what you are describing, but frankly it is NOT even close,
- rmwaite 9y ago
  Omnifocus sounds like it might do what you want, but it is (IMO) very complicated.
- Jaruzel 9y ago
  I linked to this because a) it's new to me, and b) I value HNs view on things :)
csixty4 9y ago
I've been using Microsoft To-Do since the earliest pre-release versions. It's…ok. It's by the folks behind Wunderlist, which Microsoft bought, but it's lacking some power user features that made Wunderlist stand out. I'm actually thinking of going back to a paper planner. It's a lot easier to grab a pen and add something to a list than type it into a todo list, set a reminder time, etc.
pathartl 9y ago
There are so many To-Do applications/services/features out there. I guess I'm not surprised by MS breaking into the scene, but I have to ask the age old question. How many engineers at MS are just standing around where they can waste time on products like these which probably won't be around in two years time.
- WorldMaker 9y ago
  This To-Do application started as an acquisition by Microsoft (was formerly Wunderlist), and is a part of Microsoft's ongoing work to modernize their Personal Information Management (PIM) ecosystem [read: Outlook] for "mobile first" by acquiring interesting sub-components (the modern Windows Mail and Windows Calendar were both begun as acquisitions as well). It interoperates with Exchange's Task items and is expected to be Office 365 "blessed" soon enough.
balladeer 9y ago
Either I am missing something hidden in plain sight or or maybe deep design knowledge is required to understand why Microsoft killed (is going to kill) an excellent Todo app and to replace it wrote another app, clearly inferior, from scratch which turned out to be "okay" at best. I mean they could rebranded the app if they did have to call it Microsoft To-Do; and maybe changed the colours and all.
appleiigs 9y ago
The introductory video says the app will "intelligently prioritize" your tasks for you... that sounds like a very frustrating feature to have as a user.
cwt137 9y ago
Where's the API?
andrewmcwatters 9y ago
This should just be a part of Windows like Reminders is for macOS... We already have Microsoft accounts; it seems a bit disconnected from users to not just include something like this.
- WorldMaker 9y ago
  I wouldn't be surprised if it does get a default install in Windows 10 eventually, similar to its relatives Mail and Calendar.

16 points by Jaruzel 9y ago

I'm not sure why you linked to this, but it like most to-do apps is far too simple. If I have a to-do to load my laundry, why can't it trigger a timer to remind me in 30 minutes to switch to the dryer, and then once that's marked as done another timer to take it out of the dryer? So many to-do apps, I don't think one has solid conditional tasks or robust scheduling (repeat on 1st Monday after 60 days has passed, etc).

O_H_E 9y ago
Todoist is the "closest" I could get to what you are describing, but frankly it is NOT even close,
rmwaite 9y ago
Omnifocus sounds like it might do what you want, but it is (IMO) very complicated.
Jaruzel 9y ago
I linked to this because a) it's new to me, and b) I value HNs view on things :)

csixty4 9y ago

I've been using Microsoft To-Do since the earliest pre-release versions. It's…ok. It's by the folks behind Wunderlist, which Microsoft bought, but it's lacking some power user features that made Wunderlist stand out. I'm actually thinking of going back to a paper planner. It's a lot easier to grab a pen and add something to a list than type it into a todo list, set a reminder time, etc.

pathartl 9y ago

There are so many To-Do applications/services/features out there. I guess I'm not surprised by MS breaking into the scene, but I have to ask the age old question. How many engineers at MS are just standing around where they can waste time on products like these which probably won't be around in two years time.

WorldMaker 9y ago
This To-Do application started as an acquisition by Microsoft (was formerly Wunderlist), and is a part of Microsoft's ongoing work to modernize their Personal Information Management (PIM) ecosystem [read: Outlook] for "mobile first" by acquiring interesting sub-components (the modern Windows Mail and Windows Calendar were both begun as acquisitions as well). It interoperates with Exchange's Task items and is expected to be Office 365 "blessed" soon enough.

balladeer 9y ago

Either I am missing something hidden in plain sight or or maybe deep design knowledge is required to understand why Microsoft killed (is going to kill) an excellent Todo app and to replace it wrote another app, clearly inferior, from scratch which turned out to be "okay" at best. I mean they could rebranded the app if they did have to call it Microsoft To-Do; and maybe changed the colours and all.

appleiigs 9y ago

The introductory video says the app will "intelligently prioritize" your tasks for you... that sounds like a very frustrating feature to have as a user.

cwt137 9y ago

Where's the API?

andrewmcwatters 9y ago

This should just be a part of Windows like Reminders is for macOS... We already have Microsoft accounts; it seems a bit disconnected from users to not just include something like this.

WorldMaker 9y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if it does get a default install in Windows 10 eventually, similar to its relatives Mail and Calendar.