VueMinder Lite

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on January 19, 2010

There are a lot of calendar applications out there, and by this point we think that most people have settled on their favorites, whether they're devoted to Outlook, the online capabilities of Google Calendar, or something else. Most of the stand-alone calendar applications that we review don't particularly impress us, simply because they offer little in the way of features that could conceivably lure people away from other programs. VueMinder Calendar Lite, however, is an exception: this flexible calendar fills a niche that other calendar programs don't.

The application's interface is sleek and attractive, reminding us very much of Microsoft Outlook. It has all the typical things you'd expect from a calendar: you can create different categories to organize events and appointments, set reminders with alarms, and so-on. Where this calendar really shines, however, is with its interactive capabilities. You can share calendars on a local area network, subscribe to any calendars that follow the standard iCalendar format, and sync the VueMinder Calendar with multiple Google Calendars. We also very much like the optional desktop calendar that the program offers; this translucent calendar can be moved around the screen and have its opacity adjusted, allowing you to have a seamlessly integrated calendar readily available. The program's online Help file is well-written and thorough. Overall, we were quite impressed with both the design and features of VueMinder Calendar Lite, and we recommend it highly.

VueMinder Calendar Lite is free. The program installs and uninstalls without issues.

Publisher's Description

From VueSoft:

VueMinder Lite is a free calendar and reminder program. If you're looking for the perfect offline PC-based companion to Google Calendar, you've found it in VueMinder, which supports automatic synchronization with Google Calendar and can show your schedule regardless of whether you happen to be online or offline. Data is also backed up automatically, protecting you against the potential loss of your Google Calendar events. A calendar browser allows addition of many calendars, such as holidays, local weather, sport schedules, religious occasions, and more. You can also create your own calendars, which are overlaid into day, week, and month views. Events can be filtered or color-coded based on associated calendar, category, priority, or location. Calendars can also be printed using a wide variety of templates and settings.

ICS calendar subscriptions are fully supported, along with the ability to import or export ICS files. Calendars can be saved as web pages (HTML) for publication to your website or sharing with others. Files can be linked to events and opened using just 2 clicks of the mouse. Print features are also provided, with a number of layout styles and a preview window that dynamically refreshes to show exactly what will be printed. VueMinder truly shines in the way it presents reminders, which can be either popup windows or unobtrusive desktop alerts. Reminders can be configured to play media files or even recite text-to-speech descriptions. If your computer speakers are turned up, you'll be able to hear the details of your reminder from another room - no more wondering what the computer is beeping about. If you're familiar with Microsoft Outlook, VueMinder will feel instantly familiar. Even if you've never used Outlook, VueMinder is very intuitive and easy to learn, with many convenient touches, such as the ability to undo accidental reminder dismissal.

What's new in this version: Version 10.1.9 added more formats for numbering occurrences of a recurring series; cCorrected a problem with multi-day events sometimes overlapping other events on the Month view; corrected problems related to recurring events when importing or subscribing to calendars.