Grindstone is a desktop application, produced by Epiforge Software, that allows users to create and organize tasks

Project management

Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end , undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value...

 and to track time

Time management

Time management is the act or process of exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase efficiency or productivity. Time management may be aided by a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific...

. It includes a range of other features that supplement this primary functionality. The software is currently offered as a free download for Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 users. Epiforge Software has announced interests to release Grindstone on platforms other than Windows, including Mac OS

Mac OS

Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...

.

Major Features

• Stopwatch - Allows users to select a task they're working on, during which Grindstone will attribute time to that task. The Stopwatch has a ribbon-like window that is displayed on top of other windows on the desktop, but may be hidden at the user's preference. The Stopwatch can also detect when the user leaves their computer and ask them how to reconcile their time away when they return.
• Search Tasks - A text box below the list of tasks that functions similarly to the search text boxes found in instant messaging
  Instant messaging
  Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
  
   programs or in Windows Explorer
  Windows Explorer
  This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
  
   windows.
• Profiles - Allows the user to create profiles as a way of separating their tasks into different areas. Tasks can be moved from one profile to another if necessary.
• Custom Fields - Allow the user to specify additional kinds of data to be attributed to their tasks (e.g. a lawyer using Grindstone might create a custom field to keep track of the court case number for a particular task).
• Breakdown - A kind of report in Grindstone that displays the user's time in the form of a three-dimensional pie chart
  Pie chart
  A pie chart is a circular chart divided into sectors, illustrating proportion. In a pie chart, the arc length of each sector , is proportional to the quantity it represents. When angles are measured with 1 turn as unit then a number of percent is identified with the same number of centiturns...
  
  . The user may determine the way the time is being delineated by changing varying options available on the top of the Breakdown window.
• Timesheet & Invoice - Produces simple timesheet
  Timesheet
  A timesheet is a method for recording the amount of a worker's time spent on each job.-Use:Originally developed for an employer to determine payroll, timesheets are not just for payroll any more. Timesheets may record the start and end time of tasks, or just the duration. It may contain a...
  
  s and invoice
  Invoice
  An invoice or bill is a commercial document issued by a seller to the buyer, indicating the products, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller has provided the buyer. An invoice indicates the buyer must pay the seller, according to the payment terms...
  
  s via options found in the Reports menu, respectively. Both timesheets and invoices generated can be printed, or exported as Microsoft Excel
  Microsoft Excel
  Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
  
   spreadsheet
  Spreadsheet
  A spreadsheet is a computer application that simulates a paper accounting worksheet. It displays multiple cells usually in a two-dimensional matrix or grid consisting of rows and columns. Each cell contains alphanumeric text, numeric values or formulas...
  
  s or PDF
  Portable Document Format
  Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
  
   files.
• Travel Mode - Grindstone has a feature that allows it to be run effectively from a USB flash drive
  USB flash drive
  A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
  
  , enabling users to take their Grindstone program and data with them as they move between computers.
• Update Slipstream - At the user's preference, Grindstone will regularly check for available enhancement and hot fix
  Hotfix
  A hotfix was originally the term applied to software patches that were applied to live i.e. still running systems. Similar use of the terms can be seen in hot swappable disk drives...
  
   updates from Epiforge Software. There is also an option available under the Help menu to check for updates manually. If the user agrees to update, Grindstone will download the required update packages and install them.

CNET

Grindstone 2 received five out of five stars on CNET's Editor Review scale. "We were impressed with Grindstone 2's performance and pleased by its extras. It's easy to use but does a lot, so the excellent Help file, online forums, and video tutorials go a long way toward getting the most out of all that this fine free tool offers."

Full Review on Download.com

PCWorld

PC World's review of Grindstone 2 focused on its functionality and features, calling them "incredibly simple, yet incredibly efficient." However, PCWorld's editors did indict Grindstone 2 for having an interface that was less than entertaining. "Once you delve into the app, its power becomes apparent, as does it ability to help you manage your time, but with its bland design, Grindstone can feel about as appealing as work."

Full Review on PCWorld.com

End User License

Grindstone is offered for free to download and use under the Creative Commons

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...

 Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States license.

Company

Epiforge Software is a software development

Software development

Software development is the development of a software product...

 company in Atlanta, GA

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

.

External links

• Epiforge Software
• Grindstone Homepage
• Epiforge Forum (the company posts the details of changes made in updates here)
• Team Report for Grindstone2 on SourceForge