calendar

Helpful desktop calendar

Rainlendar Lite offers not only a fantastic desktop calendar, but also a helpful reminder system. With a familiar layout and useful tools, this program is certain to keep you organized.

The program's interface is simple with intuitive commands. We had no problem finding and navigating this semitranslucent calendar and a to-do list as it nestled into our desktop. Programming the alarm and task lists felt like operating Microsoft Outlook, because the menus mimic that program. With only a few mouse clicks and some times and dates we had our calendar full of reminders. We like how the reminders are … Read more

Life-organizing program

MSD Organizer offers to help manage day-to-day lives and much more. By offering a simple overall layout and some surprising options, this proves to be more than a fancy calendar.

We found the Outlook-style layout and detailed Help file discussing its commands to be a huge benefit to the interface and were able to quickly start working. We managed a few simple menus to populate a calendar with important dates and set reminder alarms, which again felt reminiscent of the Outlook calendar system. We were pleased when our alarm sounded and popped up on command, ensuring its accuracy. MSD mimicked … Read more

iCal calendars with all-day events not publishing to MobileMe

Reports have surfaced that iCal calendar events that contain all-day events are having issues when publishing to MobileMe. The issues appear to be related to Snow Leopard's version of iCal. Apple is aware of the issue and is currently working on a fix. In the meantime, several users offer suggestions for workarounds with mixed results.… Read more

Love analysis

This is a fun little piece of freeware that uses some basic personal information to predict the compatibility of two people based on their Chinese zodiac signs. The simple interface could not be easier to navigate, and the layout of the compatibility reports is easy to read.

There aren't too many bells and whistles with MB Chinese Zodiac Compatibility, but its reports are fairly comprehensive. Each partner is analyzed separately based on his or her birthday, and the couple's overall compatibility is rated and explained. There's plenty of detail about the various birth years; we especially liked … Read more

Photo gift maker

Fotobook Editor lets you create attractive and modern custom books and calendars in a variety of sizes. However, the publisher is based in the United Kingdom, so users outside the U.K. may not be able to get products as quickly it claims.

The interface is well organized and easy to use. There is a Help file that directs users to Fotobook Editor's Web page, and there is an FAQ and a support request form that you can consult if you need assistance. We tried a few of the book and calendar templates and found them easy to use. … Read more

New Postbox tidies up for final release

As the social-networking e-mail client Postbox approaches its announced general release date at the beginning of September, the cross-platform program updates with what looks to be more a "tidying-up" release. Available for Windows and Mac, Postbox 1.0 beta 15 introduces a new version of the Thunderbird calendar plug-in Lightning, improved contact searching, and other performance tweaks--but not much else.

Derived from Mozilla Thunderbird, Postbox beta 15 will also let you drag and drop e-mails from one account to another and introduces a crash reporter that had been strangely missing until now. Search queries that return no results … Read more

Put a pet calendar on your iPhone

If you're the kind of person who melts at the sight of kittens, puppies, and other furry friends, check out iPhoneCalendars.com. The site is home to two dozen animal-themed calendars for iPhone and iPod Touch.

Specifically, these are like small-screen replacements for those month-at-a-glance calendars people traditionally hang on the wall.

Consequently, they're best suited to people who dock their devices at their desks, where the calendar can stay visible throughout the day.

The selections include cats, kittens, puppies, and over a dozen individual dog breeds (from Beagle to Yorkshire Terrier). Coming soon: nonanimal calendars like flowers, … Read more

Powerful schedule manager

OrgScheduler Pro is a calendar and schedule manager that allows users to keep track of their schedules in several ways. Although we like the interface, some of the program's key features are hard to figure out.

The program will look familiar to users of Microsoft Outlook. For the most part, the program's functions are well organized with tabs and large, graphical buttons. The interface has a sleek, professional feel to it that allows it to integrate well with later versions of Windows. We liked the fact that the calendar interface is so customizable; users can view calendars that … Read more

Outlook calendar stays accessible

Keeping Microsoft Outlook's calendar functions open without having to launch the entire e-mail application will be very handy for users who rely on a different e-mail client. But we had some view problems during our tests that may prove a problem to some users.

Outlook on the Desktop lives up to its name: it loads an icon into the system tray, so merely clicking it launches the calendar. Configuring the font, colors, and the view (Day/Week/Month, entry previews, categories, and so forth) is simply a matter of choosing an option from a right-click menu. This free little … Read more