After looking into ACT!, Goldmine, and others - it seems Maximizer 8 fits my needs the best and is the easiest to use. I have only entered about 12 contacts so far and I got a crash...

My greatest fear is a CORRUPT DATABASE. That's terrifying, so I'll backup often... but crashes are scary in general because my business will rely on this software.

My needs are simple > I list my prospects and then I track my communications with them. No big deal. I don't need to sync multiple users or anything like that...

I DO need to sync up with my Palm Tungsten E, but that's it.

My question is -- is this is pretty safe software to go with? Obviously once I'm up and running, converting to another software later would be something I'd REALLY like to avoid.

Your advice will be very helpful to me, and THANK YOU in advance!!!

PS, my motive for posting this is because after looking through the forums it seems like a lot of people are having stability issues... There was a post in the support forum where people rated their stability on a scale of 1 to 10 and typically people were saying 2 or 3.

I ask here because that might just mean that there are PLENTY of people that are using Maximizer with no major problems, and that it just LOOKS like a lot of people have problems with Maximizer because the support forum is probably mostly people who HAVE had problems. So it's not a fair census for me to go, "Oh god, a lot of people are having problems. I better not use this software."

Does that make sense? Thanks again for your advice.

If you feel the 1-10 ratings aren't necessarily valid, why would replies posted to this message be more credible? You raise a good point but then put yourself in a box.

I'd suggest :

1) Check out the trial version - but really use it when you do
2) If you need to test more, then shell out the money to buy a copy. For the value it provides Max is pretty cheap, so to me it's worth the risk.
3) Every piece of software has problems. The kicker is how severe they are for you - do the problems occur in the functionality you're using, are they severe enough that you feel they're a problem based on your expertise and needs.

So dig in, then tell us what you think. If you have problems we'll try and help you as best we can.

To qualify this response, we've been using Max 6 then Max 7 for years. We have licensed Max 8 but not implemented it, partly due to questions regarding stability but mostly because pre-implementation mapping of new business processes to our business is a huge job and we're growing too rapidly to take the time and do it right.

- R.