CNET Editors' review
Like many people, we're big fans of Google Calendar; it's easy to use, well-organized, and made for sharing with others. But we don't necessarily love the fact that we have to open a new browser tab every time we want to look at it. Enter Desktop iCalendar. This sleek program lets users view Google Calendar content right on their desktop.
The program's interface is modular, with boxes for weather, a calendar, a to-do list, and a list of events that displays information for whatever day is selected on the calendar. Each of these boxes can be moved around on the desktop or disabled, and users can choose from nine different skins to customize the program's appearance. We found it easy to connect to our Google account and sync our various Google calendars with the program; not only did Desktop iCalendar quickly import events that were already on our various Google calendars, it also exported events that we added within the application. We do wish that the program's to-do list was able to sync with Google Tasks; we'd love a way to have those on our desktop. We also had trouble getting the weather module to work; it would display the weather for some cities, but give error messages for others, even though the cities were included in the program's list of available locations. Desktop iCalendar's Help file could stand to be a little more detailed, but it does cover the basics. Overall, we think this program is a nice choice for users who want to view Google Calendar information on their desktop in an attractive way.
Desktop iCalendar installs and uninstalls without issues. We recommend this program to all users.
Editors' note: This is a review of the full version of Desktop iCalendar 1.8.8.1. The trial version is limited to 30 days trial only.
Publisher's Description
From Desksware:
Desktop iCalendar is a customizable desktop calendar program that gets calendar, events, to-do list and weather on your desktop. It allows you to sync local calendar file with Google Calendar. So you can edit your Google calendar offline, and share the calendar data on multiple computers. Calendar information can be entered from any computer and the data will become visible at all the computers.
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All versions:
2.2 starsout of 6 votes
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Current version:
1.0 starsout of 3 votes
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My rating:
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Results 1-3 of 3
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"No Tech Support"
Version: Desktop iCalendar 1.9.3
Pros
Works OK as a standalone calendar and task list. Looks good.
Cons
No tech support. Not stable, has problems syncing with Google calendar, crashes randomly.
Summary
Not worth the 10 dollars because of the lack of support.
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"very unstable, does NOT work"
Version: Desktop iCalendar 1.9.3
Pros
works for 30 seconds
Cons
after 30 seconds, it disappears from screen. Its still up as a process in task mngr,
but no visual of it anywhere on screen.Summary
very unstable, does NOT work
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"Good luck getting support and exporting to Google."
Version: Desktop iCalendar 1.9.3
Pros
Functions as a standalone calendar.
Cons
Zero support and doesn't seem to do what I bought it to do. Just use the free "lite" program and don't waste $10 on this.
Summary
I upgraded to Desktop iCalendar to be able to sync with Google Calendar. I can get iCal to import from Google, but it won't export to Google. So, kind of pointless. The "support" area on desksware.com is even more pointless. When you click on Desktop iCalendar to get to the support area for that product, it just takes you to the order area instead. I've emailed the given address for help and heard nothing. There also appears to be no way to save your customized appearance settings as a group. The process of customization is painstaking in its detail and I've had to do it three times since I downloaded the program.
After emailing with Mark at Desksware, I was able to get my events created in iCalendar to upload to my Google calendar. So, it works! They REALLY need to get a better support area on the Desksware site, though. Lots of frustration could have easily been avoided.
Updated on Jul 27, 2010
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