Last August, our entire office had to switch away from our contact manager (“Goldmine”), after nearly 10 years of use. We began using Microsoft Outlook… and although there were lots of new bells and whistles, I could never quite get my arms around how to follow up on emails I had sent and replies I had received in the same thread of conversation. Was it too much to ask just to see a single history of communication with one correspondent? Apparently the folks in Redmond just didn’t think we needed that. Well last night, while perusing an article at Justin Long’s “Momentum Magazine” site

http://www.momentum-mag.org

I happened upon a program that, at first glance, appears to have the capacity to change my life! :-) (You think I’m over-dramatizing, but I’m serious as a lost email. :-) ) The name of the program is Xobni (which is “inbox” spelled backward). Find it at:

http://www.xobni.com

Watch the video… read the review at:

http://www.microsoftweblog.com

where the author says it just “might possibly be the best 3rd-party application on the planet.” From my vantage point, he’s telling the truth. Amazingly, this redeeming application is absolutely free! Granted, it’s still in beta; but if you rely on Outlook for email, I believe you’ll find it useful today. (Thanks Justin!)