Ecco Pro
title: "Ecco Pro" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["personal-information-managers", "outliners", "note-taking-software", "calendaring-software", "micro-focus-international"] topic_path: "general/personal-information-managers" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecco_Pro" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | ECCO Pro |
| screenshot | ecco0017.JPG |
| caption | View of very basic outline with graphics. Notepad view in ECCO Pro. |
| developer | NetManage, Arabesque Software, Ecco UserGroup Members |
| latest release version | 4.544 |
| latest release date | |
| operating system | Windows |
| genre | Outliner / Personal Information Management |
| :: |
| name = ECCO Pro | screenshot = ecco0017.JPG | caption = View of very basic outline with graphics. Notepad view in ECCO Pro. | developer = NetManage, Arabesque Software, Ecco UserGroup Members | latest release version = 4.544 | latest release date = | operating system = Windows | genre = Outliner / Personal Information Management Ecco Pro is a personal information manager software based on an outliner, and supporting folders similar to spreadsheet columns that allow filtering and sorting of information based upon user defined criteria.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jul/26/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection |title=Bad ideas spread like wildfire, so why didn't a good one catch on? |date=26 July 2007 |last=Brown |first=Andrew |newspaper=The Guardian
The software was originally produced by Arabesque Software in 1993, then purchased by NetManage, and discontinued in 1997. |last= Bean |first= LuAnn |last2 = Barlow |first2 = Judith |last3 = Hott |first3 = David |date=June 2003 |title= PIMs: Is It Time to Give Up Your Day Planner |journal= Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance |volume=14 |issue=5 |pages=41–47 |publisher= Wiley |doi =10.1002/jcaf.10182
Overview
The product offers three primary types of views – phone book views, calendar views, and notepad views. Central to the program's design is an outlining structure and the ability to easily manipulate information regardless of in which view it was entered. Multiple notepad, calendar, and phonebook views can be opened, and each item seen in each view can be a collapsible outline, with each line assignable to folders/categories which can themselves be their own views, text field, pulldown menu, calendar date (including repeating date), or phonebook entry.
Product functionality
ECCO Professional was introduced by Arabesque Software in 1993, as a Personal Information Manager (PIM) with a database backend. |publisher=PC Magazine |date=29 June 1993 |title=Arabesque brings outlining to personal information managers |first=Brad |last=Grimes |publisher=PC Magazine |date=29 June 1993 |title=ECCO Professional |first=Gregg |last=Keizer |publisher=PC Magazine |date=17 May 1994 |title=P is for personal. |first=Hillary |last=Rettig |publisher=PC Magazine |date=29 June 1993 |title=ECCO: your life as an outline. |first=Gregg |last=Keizer
ECCO version 2.0, released in 1994, added support for workgroups, including group scheduling via email systems compliant with MAPI or VIM protocols, and Microsoft Schedule Plus, and sharing of contacts, calendars, and outlines, as well as file synchronization and reconciliation via intranet connections or email. |publisher=PC Magazine |date=14 June 1994 |title=ECCO 2.0 gains group scheduling and data-sharing. |first=Gregg |last=Keizer |publisher=PC Magazine |date=1 August 1995 |title=Ecco Professional 2.0: can it manage contacts? |first=Gregg |last=Keizer
ECCO version 3.0 was released in the summer of 1995 with an updated user interface based on a ring binder. |publisher=PC Magazine |date=12 September 1995 |title=Ecco Professional 3.0: the Internet information organizer |first=Gregg |last=Keizer |publisher=PC Magazine |date=23 April 1996 |title=Editors' Choice: ECCO Pro |first=Kathy |last=Yakal
ECCO Pro version 4.0 added 32 bit support and OLE 2.0. |publisher=PC Magazine |date=18 February 1997 |title=Netmanage Inc.: ECCO Pro |first1=David |last1=Haskin |first2=Nelson H. |last2=King |publisher=PC Magazine |date=1 August 1997 |title=NetManage Inc.: ECCO Pro 4.01 |first=Wayne |last=Kawamoto
History
Ecco Pro was originally developed by Pete Polash, who had sold an early Macintosh based presentation program to Aldus and Bob Perez, a Harvard-trained lawyer hired by Apple as a programmer and Evangelist in the 1980s. It was first released in 1993 by Arabesque Software, Inc., based in Bellevue, Washington. |last=Keizer |first=Gregg |newspaper=PC Magazine |title=ECCO:Your life as an outline |date=14 September 1993 |page=50 |last=Yakal |first=Kathy |title=Editor's Choice: ECCO Pro |date=23 April 1996 |newspaper=PC Magazine |title=Editor's Choice: Information Managers |date=1 August 1997 |newspaper=PC Magazine
Development by NetManage ceased in 1997 after the July 1997 release of version 4.01. |last=Krasnove |first=Brett |title=Ecco of discontinuity |date=7 April 1998 |newspaper=PC Magazine |last = Williams |first = Brian |title = NetManage Claims Outlook Killed Ecco Pro |url = http://www.pcworld.com/article/5909/netmanage_claims_outlook_killed_ecco_pro.html |access-date = 17 August 2010 |newspaper = PC World |date = 17 August 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101127022547/http://www.pcworld.com/article/5909/netmanage_claims_outlook_killed_ecco_pro.html |archive-date = 27 November 2010 |url-status = dead
Even though the source code for Ecco Pro is not open source, development of plugin extensions to the software continues. According to Scott Rosenberg, a programmer using the handle "slangmgh" developed an extension to Ecco Pro posted to ecco_pro users group on Yahoo which includes fixes and upgrades to the program, and may incorporate the Lua scripting language. |url=http://www.wordyard.com/2007/09/04/ecco-pro/ |title=Ecco Pro — back from the dead, again |date=4 September 2007 |last=Rosenberg |first=Scott |publisher=Scott Rosenberg's WordYard |url=http://eccopro.com/netmanage/ |title=How Impossible Dreams Can Destroy Value in Mid-Sized Firms |date=30 May 2013 |last=Alon |first=Zvi |publisher=Friedhelm Dohmann The EccoPro to Android Synchronization Software MyPhoneExplorer able to synchronize Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Ecco Outlines to Android Phones and Tablets was released on 9 July 2013.
References
References
- Dohmann, Friedhelm. (9 July 2013). "MyPhoneExplorer Ecco Edition Released". EccoPro.com.
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