Installation of PlanPlus was very simple. PlanPlus has several different views you can choose from to see the big picture. PlanPlus provides a variety of useful tools, such as the Weekly Compass and Weekly Planning tools, which promote a highly structured, preplanned approach to the week's work. The software encourages you (through a series of screens with questions and blank fields) to follow the FranklinCovey planning methods to articulate a list of personal mission statements and overall goals, review relationships between tasks, and assign objectives. This type of handholding might seem daunting to a first-time user. To be fair, however, you can bypass any of these steps.

The PlanPlus Today screen provides an excellent summary of the day's activities, while the Home screen combines many standard Outlook elements. It displays a monthly calendar, daily tasks and notes, an adjustable appointment calendar (daily, weekly, and monthly), and either your Inbox or FranklinCovey's note-taking interface, PowerNotes. You can expand and contract the size of each pane and close them individually, but you can't move any elements around to create a customized screen. However, new to this version is the ability to drag and drop data from one area into another. For instance, we found it extremely easy to turn an e-mail message into a task.

PlanPlus also takes Outlook notes a step farther with Power Notes. With PowerNotes you capture an image of an Excel spreadsheet, a Word document, or a Web image, then annotate it anywhere with bullet points, drawings, or text in any font size and color. PowerNotes offers functionality similar to Microsoft Paint, but it's easier to use for the specific purpose of note taking--perfect for, say, reminding yourself that you need to find information for a missing Excel field. Just capture the empty Excel field with the Virtual Printer, use the Ink tool to circle it in red, and add a note. PlanPlus has a special section it calls goals, which lets you set and plan goals integrating them into your daily schedule. The Goals Wizard takes you through the process of identifying goals, achieving them, and understanding team goals.

PlanPlus uses a “Coach” to help you make use of its different sections. Don’t get too excited, the coach is not going to actually help you organize your life; that is still going to be up to you. The Coach is just another name for help.

If you want to look at the big picture PlanPlus may be what you are looking for but for some people the screen may be a little too busy. You can download a free trail of PlanPlus on the FranklinCovey website, which is also where you can purchase it for $99.95