Simple Calendar with "To Do"

Okay, sorry if this is a stupid question. But I wont actually have my new laptop in my hands until tomorrow. This will be my first Mac. So if it comes with a program, then thats even better. But Im getting a list together of software I want to DL/buy once I get it.

Id like a simple program with a calendar that I can add in birthdays, appointments, stuff to do, etc...

Maybe something that flashes a reminder up at you in the morning or whatever. Anything like this?

You want iCal It's pre-installed on your Mac.

thank you very much!!

iCal seems a bit heavy for my calendar needs. too much work just to get it to remind me to bring my guitar to school or remember to put something in the mail...

so are there other alternatives?

If you are online most of the time Google Calendar could work for you. You can set it up to text message you reminders of appointments, etc.

http://www.google.com/calendar.

skye23412 said:

iCal seems a bit heavy for my calendar needs. too much work just to get it to remind me to bring my guitar to school or remember to put something in the mail...

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Oh, I dunno, I find iCal pretty good for most everything. I'll put in shopping lists as notes to events (like shopping) and sync it to my Palm handheld so I can remember what I'm there to buy.

Also if you have an iPod you can tell iTunes to sync your iCal to it so you can see your schedule/events while out and about. Though I don't use it for that really, since I need to be able to update on the handheld (crossing off items I've gotten, etc.)

iCal also lets you separate work/home/whatever into different colors. All in all while I was a bit resistant (came from years of using Palm desktop) but when I finally started using it I found it to be the perfect calendar app. I do wish there was a way for it to default to putting an alarm on events (and I'm sure there is, I just haven't really looked into it) since I am the type that needs to be reminded.

well I will give ical a try when I get my laptop on Friday. So are you saying that Ical doesnt have an alarm reminder for events? or just not by default and you have to manually tell it too

00bolt said:

well I will give ical a try when I get my laptop on Friday. So are you saying that Ical doesnt have an alarm reminder for events? or just not by default and you have to manually tell it too

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The latter. Not a big deal, I just forget because my Palm OS handheld does it for me. Hard to get out of a 10 year old habit.

I just enable Stickies and have them load at StartUp so the are sitting on my DeskTop, but minimised. Works for me.

I love the looks of iCal over Entourage, unfortunately Entourage allows you to invite attendees to a scheduled meeting on your calenda via email and iCal does not.

Dillinger-63 said:

I love the looks of iCal over Entourage, unfortunately Entourage allows you to invite attendees to a scheduled meeting on your calenda via email and iCal does not.

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Yes you can:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/ical/ said:

RSVP You

Don’t go it alone: With iCal 2.0, you can invite friends and family to events. iCal lets you create and edit your own invitations, send them via your Address Book, update your guest list, keep track of attendee responses and receive updated status information. A centralized notification box keeps all your invitations and responses in one easy-to-access location so you can manage events right inside iCal instead of your busy email inbox. The handy iCal Dock icon alerts you of new attendee responses even when your calendar is hidden.

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What I like about iCal is that it can be automatically sync'd to your iPod and mobile phone, plus if you have .Mac you can access it from any computer connected to the internet.

Aptmunich said:

What I like about iCal is that it can be automatically sync'd to your iPod and mobile phone, plus if you have .Mac you can access it from any computer connected to the internet.

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How do I sync with my phone? I have a Sony Erricsson. This would be very useful it I could sync using bluetooth as I check my phone a lot more than my MacBook.

I use iCal all the time. Any work I need to do I put in my to-do list and all my events in the calender. I also use Yahoo! Calender (I may give Google calender a try though considering I use GMail as my main email) which emails me about events like a couple of days beforehand so I never forget stuff anymore unless I forget to put it in the calender

If your mobile phone is supported by iSync, you can sync your calendar and contacts either via bluetooth or in some cases with a USB cable.