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active task filter shows future tasks

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I just got a new phone with Mobile 6. I was loving it until... The task feature shows all future tasks in the active task list. What's the point of being able to select a future start date if that task is just going to start showing up right away? This change is a huge mistake. My earlier PocketPC did not do this. This is a serious blow to productivity. Is there a fix for this?

Thanks,

Rick

Sunday, December 16, 2007 2:59 AM

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Hello,
I'm the Program Manager for Time Management features in Windows Mobile (including Calendar and Tasks).

This design change was made for consistency and based upon customer feedback. The PC desktop version of Outlook defines active tasks as all uncompleted tasks. In Windows Mobile 6, the behavior of active tasks was designed to be consistent with Outlook PC desktop version. That said, the team is now very aware of feedback related to this change. It is my team’s hope to address these in a future release of Tasks but this will very likely not be provided in the near future (i.e. the Windows Mobile 6.5 timeframe).

Here's more context: a change was made between Windows Mobile 5 and 6 that changed the Active Tasks filtering behavior from definition A to definition B:

A. Active Tasks = Tasks that are not completed and have a start date in the past (or today)
B. Active Tasks = Tasks that are not completed

While the new behavior "B" is consistent with desktop Outlook, desktop Outlook also has multiple filtering options and configurability not available on your mobile device - tools the user can apply to get just the behavior he/she wants. (a) we know now that this "well-meaning" change had an unfortunate, un-intended impact on a number of you as reported on this forum. We believe you each are representing an important user scenario around filtering out future tasks, and (b) we know the Pocket PC homescreen wasn’t updated with the new definition, leading to an inconsistency between the homescreen and the application itself.

Pocket Informant and Agenda Fusion both offer much more configurable interfaces for displaying Tasks.

In summary:

There was a reason for the change

There was an unintended impact

Unfortunately there will not be a software-wide update for current versions (in the near future)

We are aware of this issue, and are investigating options to fix it in the next major update of Windows Mobile

Thanks,

-Mel Sampat
PM, Outlook Mobile
- Marked as answer by MaryAliceC Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:23 PM
Thursday, February 19, 2009 9:39 PM

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Not that I am aware of Rick.

There are 3rd party Task manager programs that might give you the functionality you are looking for.

Sunday, December 16, 2007 7:14 AM

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Or, Microsoft could take responsibility for their own mistake and develop a fix for it, instead of suggesting I go spend more of my money to compensate for a defect in their program. Shouldn't they take responsibility for this? If a company manufactures new cars with defective transmissions, they do a recall and fix it. I couldn't imagine buying one of those cars, realizing the defective transmission, and being told that, if I want, I could go buy another aftermarket transmission to get the new car to work correctly!!!

Friday, January 11, 2008 6:44 PM
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I'll post this here also, Please fix this.

Monday, January 21, 2008 11:28 PM
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Well certainly you can be assured that the development team will see your post. If it appears as if there are a lot of folks that want this change, I am sure they will consider it.

As for me, even if I have a Task that is due to start in a month, I want it to appear at the bottom of the list. It serves a way to remind me what is coming even though I don't have to start it.

It would be nice to have it both ways....

Monday, January 21, 2008 11:44 PM

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I agree, but you can have it your way. Just don't check the Active filter and it will list your whole list. As it is now, the Active filter does NOTHING except screen out the items you have checked as completed. Again, my point is that this worked on WM5 but is a bug in WM6.

Tell me this. On the home screen, if you put the task list to appear there, they list only the active tasks.

For instance, on my home screen right now it says "10 Active tasks". Those are the tasks that are ACTIVE. Why is it that I have 10 active tasks yet when I ask "Task" to filter active tasks it lists every task that I have upcoming for the next year. Also, the quick tasks that I enter, say "go to the pet store" without a date apears at the end of the list after "calibrate multichannel analyzer" which is due in December... way at the bottom under 126 other tasks yet it is included as an "Active task" on the home screen.

My whole point here is that I don't like this change being played of as intentional or useful when it is a bug. If it's not a bug, then why are "Active tasks" active on the home screen but not "Active tasks" in the actual program?

All I ask is that the functionality is restored. The tasks are obviosly being identified as active by the program, yet are not being filtered correctly.

Help me, please.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:54 AM
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Well said, Bruce.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 1:50 AM
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I traced through the source code history and somehow the change is considered a bug fix ... I agree with you that this is a huge regression in usability and have reactivated the bug.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 10:50 PM
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what does that mean? how can I fix this on my phone?

And thanks, by the way!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 10:58 PM
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Bruce,

I wish I could tell you different, but there really isn't any way for us to push out a fix directly to the customer. Your best option is probably to raise a complaint with the mobile operator / hardware company that you purchased the device from. Ultimately, it is up to them whether a fix gets pushed to the end-user or not.

Thursday, January 24, 2008 10:43 PM
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This is very hard to accept: there is a really nasty bug and there is a fix for it! But there is no way the fix will get to us....
The operator only tells that I have to send back our 20 HTC's to downgrade to Mobile 5....
Unbelievable (imho).

I think, you should make clear that you would loose the 'active tasks' filter before installing Mobile 6 and if not, there should be a fix.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008 2:54 PM
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Same problem here....

Hope something will be done about it soon!

Sunday, March 2, 2008 9:48 PM
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Just got new smart phone today - am extremely frustrated by this bug.

Even sorting by date is no good because items with no start date (i.e. are active now) appear at the bottom below a hundred other tasks that don't need to start yet.

Microsoft please fix!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 8:48 PM
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I'd been using Windows Mobile 3 on my 3 year old PDA and used tasks manager on a daily basis. I've just purchased a HTC touch phone with Windows Mobile 6. I agree this is a "bug" in Windows Mobile 6 as the old windows version had no problem with tasks manager. What's the point setting a "start date" for a task when it shows all present and future dated tasks lumped altogether on the same screen. I can have about 20 tasks on a daily basis and every day I have to go through my tasks list and manually organise my day as to what's due today, what's due tomorrow, what's due next week and what's due next month! We didn't have to do this with the old Windows Mobile 3 so it should be no different in Windows Mobile 6. If anything, task manager functionality should be far improved, not be worse. Its obviously a bug that needs fixing and it shouldn't be up to the retailer to pressure microsoft, microsoft should get their finger out and fix it.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:21 AM
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Ditto - simply stated: On the today screen it says "1 active task" yet when I click on that, it shows all the future tasks. I have had Pocket PC 3.0, Pocket PC 2002, Windows Mobile 2005 (I've had many models of PocketPC since 2001). These all would just show the "1 active task" instead of all future tasks.

Am I supposed to call Verizon Wireless tech support and complain about this bug fix? Surely there is a registry change that can be done to modify this filter.

Thursday, March 13, 2008 8:07 PM
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I also want this to work as it did in wm5!

Friday, March 28, 2008 8:35 PM
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I've downloaded a free trial of Pocket Informant software and have found it very good for the purpose of hiding future dated tasks from the task manager. I can set a function to only show todays tasks and all future dated tasks remain hidden, or I can choose to have all todays and future dated tasks show if I like also. It has some other great functions too and I highly recommend it as a solution to this problem, at least until if and when Microsoft fix it.

Friday, March 28, 2008 10:45 PM
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Just wanted to add another vote for restoring the WM5 functionality to the Task List. I, too, am frustrated by the fact that it shows all future tasks instead of just the active tasks. If the start date of a task is sometime in the future it is not an "active task" and should not show up on a list that purports to be "Active tasks"....Very annoying......

Monday, March 31, 2008 5:11 PM
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Does anyone know if the soon to b released Windows Mobile 6.1 will correct this bug from its current unproductive state in version 6.0?

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 2:30 PM

tinsmon wrote:

Just wanted to add another vote for restoring the WM5 functionality to the Task List. I, too, am frustrated by the fact that it shows all future tasks instead of just the active tasks. If the start date of a task is sometime in the future it is not an "active task" and should not show up on a list that purports to be "Active tasks"....Very annoying......

I couldn't agree more!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008 1:39 PM

I know that I am a few months late, but did microsoft respond to this issue? I am not liking the task list feature on Mobile 6.

Friday, April 11, 2008 10:25 PM

Me and my wife use and share the task list extensively.

After buying a Windows Mobile 6 XDA, her task-list became extremely long..

Please, Microsoft, fix that bug ASAP, or my wife will work herself to death!.

Sunday, April 27, 2008 7:28 PM

Just got a new WM 6.0 device today, and immediately found out about this 'feature'. This little change from WM 5 to WM 6 actually renders the device useless to me.

I have tasks that are many years in the future (such as certain machine maintenance routines), and having these showing up in the tasks list is extremely bothersome. I currently have 22 active tasks, but the task list shows hundreds of tasks.

Microsoft MUST provide a means to establish the previous functionality again! From an implementation point of view, it should be simple to provide both filter options: All not yet finished tasks, and only those due tasks with a start day of today or earlier.

It is clear that during the 'bug fix', nobody really gave a thought to the consequences - and it was definitely nobody who works with the tasks application on a daily basis. This is embarrasing for Microsoft, since it's such a small thing, but with extremely ugly consequences for the user.

Thursday, May 1, 2008 8:58 AM

I would like to add another vote to fix the active task filter. I have all the same symptoms described by others. I am new to the Windows Mobile platform using an HTC Tilt moving from the Palm environment. I was using Palm T3 and "assumed" the task list would have similar functionality. I was wrong. Please fix!

Monday, May 12, 2008 6:15 PM

Yes,

This is a known problem I have escalated to the developers during the beta-proces during the development of 6.0. The bug was actually rejected because they wanted to harmonize the behaviour of of the tasks application with that of Oulook desktop.

One can only hope someone comes to his senses for a next version....

Jaap

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 10:08 PM

Jaap van Ekris wrote:

The bug was actually rejected because they wanted to harmonize the behaviour of of the tasks application with that of Oulook desktop.

Jaap,

Perhaps you can remind them that the way the tasks are working now in WM6 is **not** the same as the Outlook desktop. I've used every version of Outlook going back to 1.0 and you've always been able to filter according to "active status"/start date. I have my task list configured like that in Outlook 2007 right now. So, I can do what I want in Outlook, but not in WM6.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 2:00 AM

djwallach wrote:

I could not agree more. I just received my HTC TYTN II and I have a HUGE list of tasks that are not due until the future. This problem is a real pain. I add my vote.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 7:45 AM

tinsmon wrote:

Jaap van Ekris wrote:

The bug was actually rejected because they wanted to harmonize the behaviour of of the tasks application with that of Oulook desktop.

Jaap,

Perhaps you can remind them that the way the tasks are working now in WM6 is **not** the same as the Outlook desktop. I've used every version of Outlook going back to 1.0 and you've always been able to filter according to "active status"/start date. I have my task list configured like that in Outlook 2007 right now. So, I can do what I want in Outlook, but not in WM6.

True,

You can teach the task list of Outlook that trick. But Out-Of-he box it is disfunctional, as well as the list on your todayscreen.....

Jaap

Thursday, May 22, 2008 7:38 PM

I would also like to comment that I was very disappointed in the way Windows Mobile 6 handles tasks. I stopped using Outlook several years ago because other programs handled tasks much better. I thought I might go back to it after getting a new phone with windows mobile 6.1 on it. I downloaded a trial version of Outlook to see how it would work. I agree that there needs to be a way to separate the tasks that are current from the ones that start in the future.

I'm currently looking for another task manager and will probably not buy Outlook because of this problem and the fact that it appears that Windows Mobile can't handle tasks that recur a certain number of days or weeks after a task is completed. It's a feature I use constantly and would not want to be without.

Monday, May 26, 2008 11:39 AM

Just got Windows Mobile 6. This is very annoying. Please fix

Thursday, June 5, 2008 12:13 AM

The on/off switch on my old IPAQ, running CE3.0, just died so I'm forced into an upgrade. I picked up an HTC6800 phone, hoping to eliminate one device. It's going back pronto, and I'm going back to an IPAQ.

Issue: My tasks are all categorized (i.e. day of week, daily, and type of task). Many tasks are recurring (example: tasks that need to be done every Monday). On my old IPAQ, I would simply view Monday, along with Daily (for example). I would then sort by Priortity, or by Due Date.

Problem: On the PDA phone, I can "filter" to see certain categories. However, once I've done that the sorting feature which appears there, does nothing. So I'm left to scrolling through a long list of tasks, many of which are not even due yet.

Question: Which IPAQ model should I be looking at. OR -- which Windows version should I avoid???

Thursday, June 5, 2008 3:11 AM

Guess what! The current update for WM5 now has the same faulty sort bug! Imagine updating and finding it breaking your box instead of helping it.

If you have Active Tasks on, the Sort by Priority and others doesn't work. Totally blows the way I used tasks. AND yes you can have outlook desktop sort that way. The symbiotic relationship arguement is bogus. I've done it for years.

Standard MS sorting should be identical to Excel where when you sort, the list is in the new sort order. If you sort again, items get sorted by the current sort order 1st, then the previous order within like items of the 1st sort.

Easy. Please fix it MS. No more excuses.

Thx

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 2:55 AM

I think I have the same problem... I have had WM5 on a hp6315 for about 3 years. All fine until I start syncing it with Vista. My tasks now INSIST that they have a start date! I never used to have to have a start date! Whenever I click on a "due date" it sets the start date for the sme, which in effect HIDES the task! This is REALLY annoying!

Come on Microsoft, please give us some help with this. A few weeks ago I stumbled on the fix, but I had to delete my partnership recently and since creating the new one, forgot how to fix this issue!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 3:16 AM

FIX THIS. I have had 3 or 4 pda's and used the tasks a lot. I just got a new mobile 6 device and can not believe that I have to look at ALL of the future tasks with the current tasks.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 12:51 PM

I wish I had performed a wider Internet scrape before upgrading, but here I am…

Went from a WM5 device to WM6; I am now living this bug. Needless to say I will be printing my task list out and working off paper. For me, properly displaying active tasks are a must have not a want. Like everyone else I think Microsoft should fix this, but I take it I should not hold my breath?

What has everyone done in the meantime, what is the easiest fix?

If the answer is 3^rd party software is there a recommendation? (I see Pocket Informant mentioned)

Anything that will fix this and not give me all kinds of functionality and enhancements I don’t want?

Thanks Much!

Monday, August 4, 2008 2:25 PM

Yet another vote for making WM6.x work the same way as every previous version (under all the different names) that I have used AND every version of Outlook I have used.

A task is not active until either you start work on it early or it reaches its scheduled start date. The ONLY exception to this is tasks without a start date at all.

I was hoping that my smartphone with WM6.1 Pro would be usable as a complete replacement for my existing PDA. This bug ALONE means that I still have to carry both in order to properly run my life unless I bodge it by putting start dates on all my tasks. (I use tasks with no dates on as "do sometime when you get round to it" and other similar reminders - I only put a start date on if a start date is meaningful.)

Microsoft - FIX THIS.

Sunday, September 28, 2008 11:08 PM

Let's say Microsoft fixes the bug...what does that get you? Then you'll have to take it up with the manufacturer of your device in the hopes they will pass through a fix for you... This thread has been going on and on for several months....even if the bug gets fixed by Microsoft, then you'll just have to wait some more to see if the fix ever gets passed along to you.

Seems like a huge waste of time to me, especially when there are some really great, full featured 3rd party applications that provide some amazing functionality that the Tasks, Contacts & Appointments applications don't even come close to (even on the earlier OS). I honestly think some of the 3rd party mobile device PIM applications blow the desktop version of Outlook away and wish I could use them on my desktop computers.

Monday, September 29, 2008 12:04 AM

Moderator

Prof Julie wrote:

Let's say Microsoft fixes the bug...what does that get you?

It gets me to go to the MS website, download the fix, install it and go about my merry way. This is an OS fix that has nothing to do with hardware.

And, you've done the work to find a 3rd party replacement for this functionality, bully for you. The rest of us have gotten along just fine using functionality that was built-in to WinMobile and Outlook. We've never had any need to waste our time or money on other solutions until now and, maybe, we've got better things to do.

Monday, September 29, 2008 12:17 AM

I'm afraid that's not how it usually works with mobile devices. Microsoft does not normally provide updates and fixes directly to end users. Microsoft provides updates and fixes to OEMs, who in turn provide them to end users...if they feel so inclined.

The only downloads for mobile devices I've seen come directly from Microsoft was a DST fix and an upgrade to Microsoft Mobile Office.

For those of you who are interested....Pocket Informant, Agenda Fusion, and Agenda One are some excellent 3rd party PIM applications you could check out, but there are quite a few others that are great too.

Monday, September 29, 2008 12:31 AM

Moderator

Prof Julie, here is one of my earlier posts from when I started this thread several months ago:

"Or, Microsoft could take responsibility for their own mistake and develop a fix for it, instead of suggesting I go spend more of my money to compensate for a defect in their program. Shouldn't they take responsibility for this? If a company manufacturs new cars with defective transmissions, they do a recall and fix it. I couldn't imagine buying one of those cars, realizing the defective transmission, and being told that, if I want, I could go buy another aftermarket transmission to get the new car to work correctly!!!"

Micorsoft won't respond to one guy or a few weeks of gripes. The only way they'll ever move their big corporate butt is if many people respond over time. What that would mean is many posts, by many people, over a longer period of time. That's what you seem to object to, but that is precisely what is needed. If you don't like it, you could unsubscribe, choose not to read, and/or don't post.

I hope you catch the irony in your accusation of "a huge waste of time" while you are spending your time reading and replying to posts about which you obviously don't care.

Monday, September 29, 2008 6:50 PM

I don't object to your post at all. I guess I just hold a different perspective than you. To use your car example....I don't accept your analogy between the Tasks application and the transmission of a new car.....Instead I compare the Tasks application to the chintzy car mats that usually come in new cars....and one of the first things I replace.

I consider most of the applications that are installed to a Pocket PC to be too deficient to meet my needs. In fact, I would be delighted if I could get a mobile device without all of those application and then install my own applications to it. If you prefer to use the applications that come preinstalled on the the device, that's certainly up to you and maybe one of these days Microsoft will add that functionality that you miss so much back to windows mobile...if you want to wait around until Microsoft adds the functionality back (with no promise that you'll ever get use of the functionality unless the OEM who made your device decides to release it to you as an update) that's certainly your choice.....

Monday, September 29, 2008 9:52 PM

Moderator

As a workaround, I just started using the TaskPlus Today plugin from gkokot@free.fr. It allows filtering on the Today screen for today's tasks. It has at least brought me closer to being productive again.

http://software.forest59.com/Taskplus.aspx

Tuesday, September 30, 2008 5:28 PM

SOLUTION (SORT OF):

It may be a hinderance to some, but I figured out that filter and sort will work fine together in Windows Mobile 6 and 6.1 Tasks if you first specify a filter for Active Tasks or Completed tasks. Without that, the Sort feature is useless while using Filter.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008 4:04 PM

Not to jump on you, I appreciate anyone trying to help here, but I'm not sure I understand your fix. The problem is that when you filter by "Active Tasks" it doesn't work. It shows all tasks, even those that haven't started yet and so, aren't "active". The sort is not relevant to the problem. The workaround is to then sort the so-called "active" tasks by start date, so the tasks that actually are "active" are at the top of the list, but that isn't really any kind of "solution".

Tuesday, December 2, 2008 4:46 PM

Allow me to throw another shrimp on the BBQ. Fix this before my wife kills me for buying her this "peice of ____ that doesn't even work right".

Saturday, December 27, 2008 4:39 AM

Let me throw in another example of the problems this bug is creating. I have a friend in China who always calls me on my birthday. So, I put in a task to call him on his birthday:
"Start Date" is his birthday,
"Due Date" is the same day.
I made it a task that repeats every year. Simple enough?
Well, I called him this year, checked it as "completed". A week later, I am looking at my tasks list, and I see the task on the list. "Whoops! I must not have checked it as complete after I called!" I checked it complete; then I realized that it was the 2010 instance of the task I just checked complete!

Please fix this; can't you use the "Windows Update" feature to deliver updates? Or is this feature vaporware?

Saturday, January 31, 2009 3:40 PM

It's real - we just discussed it in a team meeting today - it's just a more complex process. We'll keep investigating to be able to suggest a better solution.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009 10:37 PM

Extremely frustrated... Please add my vote to resolve this ASAP
I have just signed a 3 year contract with Telus for a new device... I am now stuck... I cannot work without the "active task" filter and Telus do not want to cancel the contract (even if it's only been 5 days).
This device is useless to me without active task filter... as far as I know... none of the 3rd party application are solving this issue.
What is the alternative in the meantime?
Will I really have to go back on the market to purchase a 3 years old machine running WM5???

Sunday, February 15, 2009 1:58 PM

Sorry to hear of your frustrations. Have you had a chance to try the alternative applications listed above?

Sunday, February 15, 2009 7:47 PM

I also just got the following information from a colleague: "I think they would like the task list to show up on the today screen and have the ability to sort and or filter the list. To do that they would need to turn off the 3D touch flow and revert to WM 6.1, then they would choose to have tasks as a today screen option. At that point they'd choose the task list and with the menu option choose the Sort by or Filter option they'd prefer.

If I've understood it properly and you'd like the detail to do this please let me know."

If the above sounds like it might address your issue, we can provide further instructions for detailed "how to" follow these steps.

Monday, February 16, 2009 7:52 PM

I wrote to all 3rd party application to see if one would do the trick... but none came positive up to now.

It is really not required to show up on the today screen, it is just fine in the task screen... I would simply want the "filter by Active Task" to work as it should... and this is to show all uncompleted task up to and including today... and hide future and completed task. And yes the "sort by subject" allows keeping the task list organized. Here is and example of what a task list may look like in the format: @location / task to do

@car / check oil
@computer / send welcome email to Paul
@computer / write letter of application
@computer / forward pictures to John
@grocery / buy chicken for dinner
@home / remove charismas light
@phone / call to renew rental ads
@phone / call Tony for his birthday

Note: Let's say Tony's birthday is only in 6 months... there is no point in cluttering today's task list... we would therefore enter his birthday with a future start date... and then, it would only show up in 6 months... a reminder alarm could also be set the day before to allow us the time to go by his a birthday card!!!

This is a very quick and strait forward way to get and keep organized without juggling around with categories... it allows you to do whatever needs to be done depending on your specific location and all this without loosing sight of the big picture!

But the "active task" filter is needed, otherwise you quickly end-up with several hundreds of task to scroll through and it defeats the purpose.

Hope this gives a better idea of what and why I need the "active filter" to be restored.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 6:22 AM

... if it can be of any help, this version had the active task filters and sort working just fine: Microsoft Windows Mobile Version 5.0 OS 5.1.195 (Build 14989.2.6.0)

Please, would you ask your colleague if as per my previous message, his solution would work and if yes I would definitely want to get further instructions on "how to".

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 7:07 AM

MaryAliceC said:

I'm not understanding this solution. We aren't asking anything fancy, we just want it such that when we filter for "Active Tasks" it doesn't show tasks that haven't reached their "Start" date yet. Like it did in WM5 - which is the logic still used for the Today screen's count of "Active Tasks".

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 4:49 PM

Are you using the HTC Touch Diamond or Pro? There is still a way to see the 'Tasks' using the 3D touch.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 6:04 PM

I personally have a bran new Motorola Q9c, Windows Mobile 6 Standard, CE OS 5.2.1810 (build 18325.0.6.3)... Active task filter is not working on this machine... The only other option offered by Telus is the HTC S640 and I have tried it in store... same thing, active task filter is useless.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 11:47 PM

RE: Junglebee - Posted on Monday, February 16, 2009 re:further instructions on "how to".

Unfortunately, I just communicated with my colleague and it ends up the solution he was thinking of doesn’t solve your issue. When he first read your post he thought your issue was seeing the "Tasks" application (it's a little hidden on HTC's touch flow UI). After reviewing the whole thread he realized you are able to see Tasks but you weren’t able to filter them the way you liked (Hide tasks that haven't reached their start date)

Specifically regarding your example:

@car / check oil
@computer / send welcome email to Paul
@computer / write letter of application
@computer / forward pictures to John
@grocery / buy chicken for dinner
@home / remove charismas light
@phone / call to renew rental ads
@phone / call Tony for his birthday

My colleague thinks that using appointments in Outlook would work best for the future dated examples (check oil, Tony's Birthday, Christmas lights...) The other examples seem more immediate (I don't plan months ahead to buy chicken for dinner, or apply for a job). But he says this with caution because it’s clear that you really like using Tasks and may think my colleague’s suggesting Outlook Calendar is a cop out. (I personally use a combination of Calendar and Tasks, so I think there is a spectrum of application preference and personal choice regarding when to use Calendar versus Tasks).

Having said all this, a number of Task experts have been closely looking at this thread and you can expect a response soon from even more knowledgeable Task gurus perspective.

Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:36 PM

First of all, Thank you for taking this seriously and putting effort to solve the issue.

Please allow me to express, in my perspective what is the difference between an APPOINTMENT and a TASK:

- APPOINTMENT: An event which a specific DATE and TIME.

- TASK: An event which only has a DATE (but DOES NOT have a SPECIFIC TIME). (this requires a filter to show only "active task" therefore hiding future and completed).

NOTE: I have no discretionary decision to make on an APPOINTMENT... I have to be there on time or else the other party will be frustrated. On the other hand, the TASK of calling John on his birthday which is only in 6 months can be done at my 1st availability during that day... and I only need to see that task on that day.

This principle seems to be misunderstood by most software developers... Microsoft was on the right track with WM5…

Thursday, February 19, 2009 6:58 PM

I totally understand your point. I do find that for me personally, I in many cases set up an appointment with myself to make sure I accomplish a task before the final deadline required before that task must absolutely be completed. I started doing that after reading Covey's 7 Habits and realizing I needed to calendar more time for the "important but not urgent" tasks. My daily appointment schedule is so full that I have to set aside appointments with myself to carve out the time to get my tasks accomplished. Having said that, a) I really do appreciate your Tasks versus appointments perspective and definitions and b) you will hear more from a Task guru team-member soon.

Thursday, February 19, 2009 8:52 PM

Hello,
I'm the Program Manager for Time Management features in Windows Mobile (including Calendar and Tasks).

This design change was made for consistency and based upon customer feedback. The PC desktop version of Outlook defines active tasks as all uncompleted tasks. In Windows Mobile 6, the behavior of active tasks was designed to be consistent with Outlook PC desktop version. That said, the team is now very aware of feedback related to this change. It is my team’s hope to address these in a future release of Tasks but this will very likely not be provided in the near future (i.e. the Windows Mobile 6.5 timeframe).

Here's more context: a change was made between Windows Mobile 5 and 6 that changed the Active Tasks filtering behavior from definition A to definition B:

A. Active Tasks = Tasks that are not completed and have a start date in the past (or today)
B. Active Tasks = Tasks that are not completed

While the new behavior "B" is consistent with desktop Outlook, desktop Outlook also has multiple filtering options and configurability not available on your mobile device - tools the user can apply to get just the behavior he/she wants. (a) we know now that this "well-meaning" change had an unfortunate, un-intended impact on a number of you as reported on this forum. We believe you each are representing an important user scenario around filtering out future tasks, and (b) we know the Pocket PC homescreen wasn’t updated with the new definition, leading to an inconsistency between the homescreen and the application itself.

Pocket Informant and Agenda Fusion both offer much more configurable interfaces for displaying Tasks.

In summary:

There was a reason for the change
There was an unintended impact
Unfortunately there will not be a software-wide update for current versions (in the near future)
We are aware of this issue, and are investigating options to fix it in the next major update of Windows Mobile

Thanks,

-Mel Sampat
PM, Outlook Mobile

Marked as answer by MaryAliceC Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:23 PM

Thursday, February 19, 2009 9:39 PM

Mel Sampat [MSFT] said:

In summary:

There was a reason for the change
There was an unintended impact
Unfortunately there will not be a software-wide update for current versions (in the near future)
We are aware of this issue, and are investigating options to fix it in the next major update of Windows Mobile

-Mel Sampat
PM, Outlook Mobile

Thank you for giving us a real response!

First, another unrealted bug to report is that on this message editor, if you click on the "quoted" text to remove parts you don't want to quote, your comments become part of the quote.

I suppose this is why I don't use Outlook on my desktop. I've never found it as convenient or easy to use as the pocket version, and now I know why. I only have it installed to act as a backup sync of my PDA's data. Perhaps you fixed the wrong program!

If you're concerned about consitency, perhaps you could add a third filter that behaves as the previous versions' "Active Tasks" did - call it "Current Tasks" or something like that. Just a thought.

Thanks again!

Monday, February 23, 2009 6:24 PM

Thanks for the feedback. I've shared your additional comments with the team.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009 12:50 AM

How complicated can it be to push out the fix? I know you know how to do it right, because only recently have you screwed it up. You have code that works. Use it. I'll help you find it. It is in EVERY OTHER version of WM/PPC you produced. I am offended that your solution is to spend more money. How dare we expect your product to function as it should. I know how the pc version of Outlook works. If your goal was to mimic the functionality of that, why didn't you add the "to do list" that sorts by day-week-month-year? Oh, I forget, it is easier to reduce functionality than to add it.

In summary:

1. Even if there was a reason for the change, corporate hubris should not prevent you from changing back.
2. Unintended impact - you do have people fixing bugs, right? That is what you pay them for.
3. Didn't you learn from Vista? Eye candy is fun, but people just want it to work.
4. "We are aware of this issue," but just don't care enough to allocate the resources to fix it despite the fact that it has been generating ill will for well over a year. It is more fun to talk about it in committee and never act. In fact, why don't you form a committee to figure out why you are so slow to act?

Now I know why some people are drawn to Linux. You might get some crappy software, but at least you didn't have to pay so much for it.

thenonoman

Thursday, April 23, 2009 6:38 AM

Dear Mel Sampat,

You are making my employees and I live misery by not issuing a patch to correct this simple problem. Our whole daily agenda was based on tasklist.

For over the last two months, I have searched for a replacement solution:
Impossible with Agenda Fusion...
Pocket informant is a nightmare of complexity... and not always stable.
No other WM third party offer such filtering...
I have even bought a blackberry... but no such feature as they only work with Due Date (including 3rd party TodoMatrix).
Cannot go back to purchasing WM5 device as they are no longer available.

You showed us how to run and now you are amputating our legs.

Edited by Junglebee Saturday, May 9, 2009 5:00 AM

Saturday, May 9, 2009 4:23 AM

Look, look, look, what Wikipedia has to say about Mel Sampat... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Sampat

"Before Microsoft, Sampat was the founder and CEO of Two Peaks Software, an independent software vendor specializing in Windows Mobile applications. Two Peaks was partially acquired by WebIS prior to Sampat joining Microsoft in 2005^[5]."

WebIS just happened to be the manufaturer of Pocket Informant... our recommended product from Mr. Mel Sampat!!!!!!!

Is not this somewhat of a conflict of interest????
Mr. Sampat would not be holding the fix in order to spice-up Pocket Informant sales????

Saturday, May 9, 2009 4:50 AM

Mel,

The only flaw in your argument is that when using the tasks list in outlook on the desktop, users invariably have to also apply a filter so that only those tasks with an active date of =now() are shown. This then limits those active tasks that are currently active for the current date or have no start and finish dates.

This capability is not available on WM6, and therefore the new behaviour "B" is NOT consistent with desktop Outlook.

The optaions are therefore to either

1. make all functionality consistent, or

2. revert the mobile functionality to that previously available.

Consensus seems to be for option "2".

Rg,

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 3:31 AM

WM6 is not compatible with my previous WM related to filtering tasks: I need a filter that gives me the real active tasks, that means that tasks that start in the future should not be in, because they are not active at this moment.
Simple example: If I make a task "make Xmas cards" with start date in December, this task is for sure not active in July ...

The answer of MS WM PgM Management Features Mel Sampat is unacceptable and even not correct.

I can understand that they want to be compatible with MS Outlook, but it must be very easy to add an upgrade where an extra filter is added that gives his customers the former correct active task lists! We pay enough for our pda with WM, so we expect correct service, while we now get an answer that we must wait until ... nobody knows. May be we must buy the HTC with Android then?
This is definetely not managing management features and refusing an instant fix is not professional. For sure if you see that so many customers are not happy with this unneeded and incorrect change, MS should be fast to provide and easy fix by providing an extra filter. I cannot imagine that it is so difficult to add an extra filter to the list. I would even expect that you would be able to define your own filters by now, because now it is NOT compatible with MS outlook, because there I can create a filter myself to see my real active lists!
By the way: the filter in MS outlook for active tasks is wrong because it shows the not active future tasks .. this was already anoying me for a long time and therefor I did not use the task list on MS outlook, but always on my pda ... now my new pda gives me also the wrong list ...
I would expect a fix in MS outlook and not a change in WM6 to make it compatible with a defect in another MS tool ...

Thank you very much to provide your customers a download to get this problem fixed ASAP instead of waiting for a next release. We really cannot wait until then.
Saskia

Friday, July 24, 2009 9:17 AM

Answered by:

active task filter shows future tasks

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