Well, I am a bit of a fan for the Franklin Planner (now Franklincovey). So 4 years ago when Franklincovey introduced a plug-in/bolt-on for Outlook that added the organizing systems finer points I jumped all over it. Weeks later I realized I had made a horrible error. Franklincovey might know planners, but they don't know anything about writing stable software. After weeks of trying to find solutions or updates for the software, I uninstalled the software.

In the beginning of 2003, Franklincovey introduced a 2.0 version on the software. Still feeling the pain of my previous experience I opted for the 30 day evaluation verses buying the software (Smart move!). The huge improvement in the look and feel was the addition of new home page for outlook that allowed daily notes to be typed in on the same screen as your tasks, calendar, and inbox (with Preview). All my critical information all on one screen in Outlook! I was in heaven until it took forever for Outlook to start, my daily notes started disappearing and information won't sync to my pocket pc. The honeymoon with the producted ended in about 3 days and once again after weeks of contacting tech support and reading forums I uninstalled the product. The experience left me missing something I wanted so despartely. All my information on one screen in outlook with the ability to keep daily notes. I looked to dashboards and other products, but it just wasn't possible.

Once again, Franklincovey has introduced a new version 3.0. I gleefully downloaded it with high hopes of reaching my Outlook Nirvana. With only 2 days into my recent experience I have the following dislikes of the product:

• Outlook still takes a long time to open
• I can't view my 'search folders' that I have become accustom to using Outlook 2003
• I cannot open attachements without opening the email when on the home page
• Franklincovey technical support is still unusable

I haven't reached the point of uninstalling it, but am pretty sure spending 100 dollars whether mine or my companies is a silly investment unless I can resolve these issues (and who knows what issues will come up in the next few weeks).

Can someone suggest a plug-in for Outlook that provides a dailynotes field and inbox (with preview/reading pane)? I believe Franklincovey uses a journal item and leave is open the whole time.