GTDer Rob documents how he captures and manages his projects and next actions using Microsoft Outlook and OneNote. I continue to collect & process my inputs in OneNote. When I identify a next action now I use the Outlook flag CTRL+SHIFT+5 to flag it as an action and have it show up in my Outlook to-do list. I then set a context for it using Outlook. I then can filter my contexts in Outlook as needed.

Rob goes on to explain how he color-codes his various products and how that helps him do his weekly review, too. Overall it’s a nice look at how an MS Office user can get on the GTD wagon.

The other web-based office suite, Zoho, releases their new Start Page today, a launchpad for getting to all your Zoho documents from one place. Display your Zoho Writer (word processor docs), Sheet (spreadsheets) and Show (slideshows) as well as Zoho contacts on the start page, which looks a lot like your “My Documents” folder on the web. Arrange your files into folders, tag and export documents, and browse shared Zoho docs on your Start Page, which doesn’t yet—but will—include files from the rest of Zoho’s application suite (which includes Notebook, Wiki, Creator, Planner, Chat and Meeting). While it’s similar to the Google Docs start console, Zoho Start offers a few more features than Google Docs, like list and box view as well as a tabbed interface.

Social search engine Sproose—which features user-driven search result relevancy—launches this morning. Sproose users vote on the web sites that appear in search results, and Sproose ranks the highest voted before less popular pages in future searches. In other words, as more and more people vote for pages that fit a specific search result, those results will have a greater likeliness to appear on the top of Sproose’s search results. Here’s a screenshot of a more active search on Sproose:

Windows Vista’s hefty 1GB Service Pack 1 is due out in early 2008. Windows XP’s third and final service pack is also in the works.

AU – so I don’t know about you guys, but I was really hoping for a Vista SP1 by the end of the year. Can I hold out that long? If you’re using Vista, what do you reckon?

ww Create complex diagrams with webapp Best4c, which works like a stripped-down version of Microsoft Visio right in your web browser. Much like previously reviewed Gliffy, Best4c looks like a solid (and cheap) solution to create network diagrams, floor plans and flowcharts. Creating a diagram is relatively intuitive with a drag and drop multi-paned interface with toolbars and tabs, and you can keep your diagram private or invite others to collaborate. Registration and signup is free, though load time this morning is a little slow. Best4c [via WebWare]

This morning founder of Ubuntu Linux Mark Shuttleworth talked with Lifehacker about his personal productivity system, the future releases of Ubuntu and free software. Mark introduces the next version of Ubuntu following Gutsy Gibbon which will be named “Hardy Heron.” What do the Ubuntu faithful have to look forward to in the release following Gutsy, and has a name been decided upon? It has. The name will be the “Hardy Heron.” We picked Hardy as the name because it will be the basis for our next long term supported release.

More details and the interview transcript coming soon.

All platforms with Firefox: The gTalk Sidebar extension puts Google Talk into the Firefox sidebar for easy chatting no matter what page you’re on. Once the extension’s installed, add its icon to your Firefox toolbar, and pop it open to see your Talk contacts and chat in the sidebar whether or not you’ve got Gmail open in a tab. The How-to Geek points out that it’s an easy way to send off a quick email as well; just click on a contact, then the email button to compose a new message. The gTalk Sidebar extension is a free download that works with and wherever Firefox does. gTalk Sidebar [Mozilla Add-ons via the How-To Geek]