So sorry to hear of the demise of Now Software. Now X was still slow and a little buggy but with great potential, and I've been a Now user since almost the beginning.

I've already migrated to iCal and have only been using Now X for contacts. Where is the best contact software to migrate to and keep all of my data (including custom field names)? I don't care about the links to the Now X calendar but would like to save everything else. Is there a way to get everything into the Apple Address Book?

Follow-up: It looks like Address Book may be the most pragmatic program to migrate to, but I'll lose a lot of data. Now X is slow and hard to use, and I'm afraid it will break with the next system update, so I want to do this sooner rather than later.

1) How complete and robust is Now X's export-to-text? Will it save all of my data (other than links)?
2) How hard would it be to write a Filemaker template for that data that uses all my custom field names? I'd feel more secure if all that data was in FM (2000+ contacts)?
Thanks,
David

Looks like Busy Cal is the calendar replacement. I am still able to use Now Contact 5.3.2 for my address database. I kept it after converting to NowX. Seems to work OK with 10.6.3 anad it seems more comprehensive than Address Book. Does anyone know of problems with it.

I'm realizing how much I rely on sorting by tags and categories. I really need a contact manager more than an address book, but I don't see any consensus here on a usable contact manager (Bento 3?).

I suppose it's to early yet; however, has anybody heard of a Software Company interested in taking over NowX and keeping it active and working? I have been a user of Now software since they started too.

I run both Now 5.3.2 and NowX on my computers Two 0n 10.4x and the also on my iMac i7 10.6.3. So far they all seem to work at the moment although the Now 5.3.2 icons don't show-up in the menus bar on the new iMac. No big thing.) The NowX icons do though.

Like others here, I'm afraid that at one point or another both may quit working as the Os changes, especially 10.6.x system and beyond.

I have migrated to Busy Cal; however, for me it doesn't seem to do much more for me at this point except to show weather and temperature.

Of course, I still have the NowX database, Now Contact database as well Apple address book and if I wanted too, since I have the latest Bento software build a database there; however, I just hate the thought of spending the time to do that.

I just wish that some Company would pick up NowX and keep improving it as well as keep it working with system updates!

Yes, any advice about where to migrate, another contact manager, would be very helpful.

Would LOVE Now to resurface, but in the interim, have converted to BusyCal. Seemed the friendliest solution for a calendar. Their customer service is very responsive and open to upgrade ideas, so there may be hope for a more robust calendar and contact solution one day. I never shut down my Now Contact, so I use it and export to V-cards when syncing to my iPhone. Not very sophisticated, but it works. (Do NOT like AB)

My biggest challenge right now is to find a task/event manager that syncs to BusyCal/iCal and pushes to iPhone and vice-versa (which is the tricky part). May be a pipe dream. I have tried SoHo (and purchased) Remember the Milk, Toodledo, and Todo, but not happy with any of them. Great as standalones, but limited 2-way interconnectivity. If anyone out there knows of such a solution, I would be very grateful.

Using Bento/Filemaker seems like a possibility depending on how much it integrates and syncs with Address Book.

Do ALL the fields that I set up in my AB template (in preferences) integrate into Bento, including the "notes" field? If so I might be able to use the notes field for tags and any other info that I can't put into the other AB fields. And if I change the label of a field in AB does it change in Bento?

I just found out Now X is closed and I am so bummed! Have been using it (Now Contact) for 8 years and have over 2000 contacts. Although I suffered through the bugginess- it is a great database that I have invested hundreds of hours in. What to do? Need to migrate to something that allows for the tags and categories.... Looking forward to hearing what folks recommend. Really would love to see a company take it on as it is a great database program.

welcome to the gang. for myself, i'm very disappointed. first because i used the program for so many years and really liked it. and second because there just is not anything out there that can replace what it did for me.

there's another thread in the discussions area, where we've been chatting about alternatives. am now using contactizer, but it does only a fraction of what now x did before. look around the board here for ideas, as the best solution for any of us will depend on how we use the program. good luck.

Has anyone exported Now X database to Entourage?

I've been using NCUD and NOWX for the past 8 years. I run a small business that relies heavily on client contact management and email promotion. I have diligently used the tagging, note, email ingest and contact categorization features that NCUD and NOWX allowed. Over the past 7 years, I have amassed, organized, and maintained contact specific data that I would be very disappointed to lose. Losing all of that contact data would set back my business management by years. I have over 3000 records in my contact database. Fortunately, I never utlized the NCUD or NOWX calendar. I've always used iCal as my primary calendar and synced to NCUD/NOWX, so I'm OK with respect to that. But in terms of contact record database management, I'm really worried about losing 8 years of detailed data. Again, I have over 3000 records.

Previous research led me to DAYLITE 3 software. One of the immediate benefits of DAYLITE 3 was that it imported NCUD data very well. I don't know if that is the case with NOWX data. Anybody have any experience with DAYLITE 3 and NOWX?

In terms of FILEMAKER PRO, I know little about it but I there is an accompanying software that comes with it called Business Productivity Kit that looks interesting. Does anybody know anything about this?

In the meantime, I propose that we create an ongoing thread for people who are completely dependent on NOWX to run their business. There are several major bugs that have been plaguing my daily life and maybe we can help each other out.

I really hope somebody steps in and buys NOWX! It seems to be a unique product in their niche market for Apple users.

Ron Ceballos
BUREAU Los Angles

Ron I'm with you- have 8 years of client data that is the foundation of my business relationships. It's hard to imagine that the design of Now X and its functionality wouldn't be attractive for another software business to pick up and go. I am checking this site a couple of times a week- let's keep in touch.

Elizabeth Candelario
Demeter USA

I'm another who's used NUTD/C and Now X since "forever." I, too, continue to use Now X and am hoping to see Now X rise again.

I've looked at all the competitors mentioned here and find that they are all awkward or in some way deficient. Besides the attention to all the detail that makes Now X so "sweet," I think the crucial features for me are the cross-linking of events and contacts in a single application, and the ability to link documents with events and contacts. Printing from contact lists is also important.

The best competitor I've seen is BusyCal, which I noticed has somebody from the former NUDT/C team, which may explain why it's so nice. The consistency of design and outlook makes me wonder if it might be a fine new home for Now X.

But then I think about code bases. It would probably be impossible to merge the two products. In a merge, one would have to incorporate the others' features. If the objective is to get cross-linked events and contacts, then, on the surface, it would seem that the best of BusyCal should be imported into Now X, after which the new Now X would replace BusyCal. A market-oriented advantage would be that the new Now X would acquire the BusyCal customer base. Such a path, if feasible, would probably take a long time.

Would it be crazy to consider dedicated and qualified users carrying Now X forward, in a manner similar to an open source project? Or maybe AS an open source project?

Maybe the simplest thing would be for another venture capital outfit to see Now X's uniqueness and potential, and fund it for a relaunch. Or, why not the original VC firm, which presumably had to cut and run because Now X wasn't hitting its profitability target and deadline. Since the product is now well-understood, maybe reopen negotiations with new, realistic targets.

Anyway, my fingers are crossed. We're behind you, John!

Anyone heard of Bad Dog Apps, based in Vancouver (http://www.baddogapps.com)? They have calendar and contact apps, both of which I have just downloaded, on a free trial basis. Will let you know how they work out.

I'm back to report that the two Bad Dog Apps ("Calendar" and "Contact") are a poor substitute for the greatness that is Now X. Don't waste your time; they're not worth downloading.

Hello all and my hat is off to John Wallace for making a gallant effort with Now X.

I heard someone say that SOHO Organizer is not bad and I just down loaded the 30 day trial... Anybody have anything on SOHO and what might be another alternative to iCal and AB -- I am still working with iCal and NUDC5.3 which is working for now.

Thanks -- Terry

PS: It would be great to see some wealthy software company resurrect X for the rest of us. How about it John?

Just to keep a tally, here is what we have in terms of possible migrations for NOW X:

SOHO ORGANIZER
DAYLITE 3
OBJECTIVE DECISION/CONTACTIZER
FILEMAKER PRO w/BUSINESS PRODUCTIVITY KIT
BUSYCAL

Here's what is I think are not options:

BAD DOG APPS - See review by Duketype
Revert to NUDC5.3 - Lose sync capabilities & email ingest

Please reply with posts about strengths & weaknesses of migrating to any of above programs. As far as I'm concerned, the best migration is one where ALL of the NOW X data (tags, notes, data fields, etc.) transfer seamlessly.

Even though NOW X has a lot bugs, I'm going to hold onto it as long as possible because I am hoping (like everybody else) that somebody steps in and buys NOW X. However, I'm certain that the next major OS update by Apple (10.7 or 10.8) will be the final blow to all of us who are dependent on NOW X, so we shouldn't wait too long to find a new home.

Ron Ceballos
BUREAU Los Angeles

Hello All,

I've down loaded the SOHO Organizer and am TRYING to export the data out of NUDC 5.3 to SOHO. VCard can't be read, Text does not open in SOHO, and contact is not highlighted... So I'm thinking about backing NUDC 5.3, exporting it into Address book (I know I am going to loose some data) and then sync it to SOHO -- and other bright ideas?

Maybe I can get the NOWX10.0.4 and sync that with NUDC and try to export it to SOHO. I have to agree that we need to try something... we're going to needs some way to salvage what we have.

Terry

Hi Terry,

Thanks for the update. Migrating from NUDC5.3 to NOWX10.0.4 is easy. Hopefully you can still download 10.0.4. I would be very interested in knowing how 10.0.4 migrates to SOHO, DAYLITE 3, CONTACTIZER, FILEMAKER PRO, and BUSYCAL. I have high hopes for SOHO being the most seamless. Let us know if you can't download 10.0.4.

Ron Ceballos
BUREAU Los Angeles

Ron -- I just downloaded NowX 10.0.4 (though have not opened it up) and when I have an hour, I am going to see if I can use 10.0.4 as the go between NUDC to SOHO. Will keep you posted.

Terry

Ron --

I found one way to get the NUDC data to SOHO by Drag and Drop. Am taking a letter at a time, though it working. Still have not seen a way to export NUDC to Address Book and then to MobileMe, though am still working on this.

From "Take Control of Now Up To Date& Contact, here is phrase that helped me.

"Now Contact can also import / export any compatible file type (tab or Comma - delimited text or vCard) by drag-and-drop. Drag the file from the finder into Now Contact's list view, and the contacts are added to your contact file (displaying the import set up window if necessary)."

So from this, I 'Selected All' in the A's from Now Contact and dragged it into SOHO. I am going to move everything else over manually, and work with both programs to see how I like it. I have not choices here.

More to follow -- Terry

“Still have not seen a way to export NUDC to Address Book and then to MobileMe, though am still working on this.“

Why not use NOW X to do this? It will import NUDC, transfer to Address Book and Mobile Me. Very simple.

CVB

I have migrated all 1178 + contacts from NUDC to SOHO, then synced SOHO to MobileMe, that synced to Address book.

As I Dragged&Dropped I saw that you could transfer 20 contact or so per transfer. When it asked for the type of vCard format, I used ISO-Latin 1 and it transferred it without a problem. I see that when I had a picture attached to a record, the contact had to be manually transferred (copied and pasted) so all the information was properly transferred. So far so good. More on this when I start working with SOHO to see how it works.

I am still praying for someone to buy Now and get the software back on line, though I know we have limited time before NUDC does not work anymore.

Any other ideas or comments are welcomed. Terry

I have moved to iCal for Calendar. Tried to export, but it exported 10 years of to-do's and that seemed to hang everything. So I went through the next few years on NOW X calendar and pulled stuff that was important and then put on iCal.

I am exporting my contacts, something like 2500, to Address book as v-cards. I am selecting them by their Tag, exporting them in that group, and then creating a group in AddressBook that corresponds. When you import into AB, the most recent import is saved in Last Import, so I just select All, and then move to my new Group. That way, I can still sort according to theTag/Category I created in NOW. It's time-consuming, as I have a lot of Tags, but it seems to be working. I am losing some data, but I saved all my contacts in one .txt file, so that I can search it later if I need critical data.

Hello all,

I've been using SOHO Organizer on the 30 day trial and it is a good alternative to NUDC. There are several unique add ons that are fun to have. I see that my notes from NUDC have moved over and I am able to sync to both MobileMe and then iCal/Address book nicely. As in any new program, things that I am use to in NUDC are not there, though am finding ways of working around those personal attributes that I have been accustomed to having. As I get more, I will pass it along.

Terry
email : Terry@TerrySchaefer.com
410-728-2522

Anyone else trying SOHO Organizer? Can you migrate directly from Now X? Is it hard to set up?

David

Hello all,

I am going into my last week of working with SOHO and I see they do not have a "Copy Contact" feature which is important to me. Tech support is responsive. Migration from NowX is simple since it sync through iCal to SOHO. I still miss the NUDC / NowX for the flexibility to do your own way of setting up your contact manager. Still seeing some work arounds, and also know there is not much more to explore with quality contact and calendar programs.

Terry

Hi Terry,

Much appreciation for the updates/feedback. Three questions: 1. NowX synced through iCal to SOHO? Was this just for calendar data or also for the contacts? Please clarify this statement. 2. Does SOHO have a duplicate contact feature? 3. Does SOHO allow/import the TAG features that exist in NowX? 4. What major NowX features do not exist in SOHO?

Thank you!

Ron Ceballos
BUREAU Los Angeles

Hello,

I have over 12,000 contacts and have been a user "forever" like many of you. I too can't seem to find a good alternative. I have been using Address Book and iCal and it slows my computer to a stand still. One of the reasons that I use address book is because it integrates into the OS very well and also works with my mobile me account.

If anyone of you have several computers using NowX or have large amount of contacts, and are in need of a server, you may want to consider the Mac Mini Server.

You will not get nearly the functionality of NowX, but for those of you who have large contact lists, more than 2000 or 3000 entries, this solution may help solve the problem of Address Book slowing down your computer since the server hosts your Address Book/Calendar and each station is a client.

It is not a perfect solution, but at least your contact information will be accessible on many devices, (desktop and mobile) and exportable without slowing your computer down.

The software is included with the server and you already have Address Book and iCal on each Mac.

It's an alternative, and there doesn't seem to be too many of them.

I need a new server, so I think that I will go this route. If down the line, someone develops a software package that I want to use, at least I have a good server and my data is still accessible.

Good luck to all.

Ron,

On #1: The SOHO Syncs with both the iCal and AB programs, and note follow over as well.
#2 Have not seen the duplicate contact feature, though does have multiple addresses for the same contact.
#3: Tag do export and import -- atleast they did for me.
#4: Copy Contact which is essential for what I do. Also the label program needs work.

Terry

FYI everyone -- I have found the claendar with SOHO a bit quirky -- so I am trying the BusyCal program for 30 day to stand alone. Will report back later. Terry

Still thinking of migrating to SOHO for contacts. Saw this on their website:

11) Perfect Migration. Achieving a perfect migration of data between the Now Software products and SOHO Organizer will be next to impossible for a couple of reasons. First, it would require that Chronos have access to Now Software's database formats so we could read the data directly and try and preserve everything. In the absence of the ability to read the data directly, we would need Now Software to export their data in an xml format that preserves all fields including link fields. Second, the data in SOHO Organizer and the Now Software products do not match up perfectly. When the data fields don't match up perfectly, it means data either is lost or stuffed somewhere that doesn't make perfect sense. Chronos chose from the beginning to make our data model match Apple's so users wouldn't have to deal with syncing ambiguities. Now Software did not adopt this philosophy so there will be problems with data matching up to Apple's data models and consequently SOHO Organizer's data model.

John Wallace, how about letting Chronos see your database formats, or providing an XML export function as a thank-you to your loyal users? Even if there is data that doesn't match up to SOHO's model maybe with some help from you we could at least get that data dumped to an extra text field in SOHO??

I second that request. Some help from NOW would be appreciated...

Hello all,

I have been away for several months and just getting back to report how the BusyCal and SOHO are working.

1) BusyCal is a great stand alone calendar program that is close to the NOW UTD was, though just does not beat what it could do for the owner when changed to one's own needs and desires from a calendar program. OK for the time and continue looking for a replacement.

2) SOHO as a contact manager is just an Apple Address Book on some steroids. SOHO limits how you can set up you data fields, limits how the user can print on pre-printed forms or envelops, and limits what get passed from my NUDC file that I still keep current. (I'm praying that John Wallace finds the white knight with lots of cash that wants to be the best in the contact and time management recorded business -- Yes John, we still love your product). I am syncing SOHO through Mobile Me with Address Book and my one iPhone, and it seems to work fine and not lose any information. The detail and data trail is not as robust as I would like to see it.

On commenting on the above migration with Chronos, I am not a tech person, so if someone can formally simply the database issue with the formatting ease that NOW provided for all of NOW users, we would have a great model to move forward on.

Thanks all and comments and suggestion are always welcomed.

Terry

PS: I just learned about Unyk.com -- which is PC / Web based, not really ready for iCal syncing as I see it -- does any one else know any thing about it? Also -- it seems with Google as the syncing agent, we might have a way to use this effectively with the Apple / Mac side of the world -- comments welcomed.

I have just had a note from a colleague using Daylite and who is so far very happy with it. Works well over the net to his server and even one troglodyte is using it and therefore sharing information.
Any comments from anyone? Please?

Any news re NUTDC -> Daylite?

>In the absence of the ability to read the data directly, we would need Now Software
>to export their data in an xml format that preserves all fields including link fields.

The best way forward is to use the support built into Now X. Have Now X import the NUDC files and sync those to iCal and Address Book through Sync Services. Another path would be importing your NUDC data into Now X and having Now X export the data in iCalendar format, although exporting some forms of repeating events has some bugs.

Us providing our formats isn't possible at this time because of working through things with the courts. Even if it were possible, it's unlikely to be helpful at least as far as NUDC is concerned. The NUDC format is complex and doesn't map easily to iCalendar format. It took many manmonths of effort for us to implement the import code from NUDC -> Now X and it would likely take far more time for a third party to do the same since they aren't familiar with the NUDC format or code base. The NowX format, OTOH, is implemented in a standard SQL database and maps well to iCalendar format. It seems likely that a third party could reliably pull data from that database with only 2-3 manmonths of effort.

Using Now X as the conduit between NUDC and other products is your best bet at this time. The Now X registration servers are offline, so you can download and run Now X without having to enter registration information or any kind of serial number.

Yes, to echo everyone else, we certainly do want a revival, white-knight salvation of NowX.

BusyCal is just fine as a calendar app, slightly better than iCal.

But it's the dearth of a good contact app that's troubling me. I tried Contactizer Pro, Daylite, and Soho and found them all loaded with stuff I don't need, not so intuitive for handling contacts and groups of contacts, and just buggy. Settled, for now, with syncing Now with AB and Bento, which at least provides a tabular list but is feature-poor in the extreme! Can't get no satisfaction, and know with system upgrades Now will go from balky to unusable sooner than later.

John, have you considered approaching the BusyCal guys about collaboration? Don't think Chronos would be a good partner for you. Best of luck!

I've also finally settled on Address Book and Bento 3, at least they're stable, and I can massage my data to get most of what I need. The one BIG piece I haven't been able to crack is getting the "tags" exported from NowX (so I can get them into Address Book/Bento). NowX exports the "categories", but the tags are what I depend on, and would hate to start from scratch with over 2000 contacts. Ideas?

Yes, I want to echo that all my trials were not satisfactory. After several experiments, I am trying to use Bento 3 with average results and not professional results.

I still hope the NowX will survive.
Any expectation?

Pascal in France