Efficient Calendar Free Portable for Windows

Competition is pretty stiff in the calendar market these days. Calendar programs just keep getting more and more interactive and versatile, and there are options out there to fit the needs of just about everyone. Efficient Calendar Free Portable Edition is a lightweight program that you can take with you on a USB drive or other portable device. It doesn't offer nearly as many features as some other calendar programs, but it's not a bad choice if simplicity is one of your highest priorities.

The program's interface is plain and attractive, reminding us a bit of Microsoft Outlook. The calendar view options include individual days and entire months; paid versions of the program have other views such as weeks, workweeks, and years. You can create both one-time and recurring events and set reminders for them for minutes, hours, days, or weeks in advance. The program also has a task feature that lets you keep track of your to-do list and set reminders for each task; we liked it that tasks can be color-coded according to user-defined categories. You can also import events and tasks from elsewhere in either CSV or TXT format. A powerful search feature makes it possible to easily locate tasks and events. When Efficient Calendar isn't active, it minimizes to the system tray, ensuring that it's always close at hand.

We weren't able to launch the built-in Help file, but this wasn't a problem, as the program is extremely easy to use. Overall, Efficient Calendar Free Portable Edition isn't going to meet your needs if you want a program that can sync with other calendars or send text message reminders to your cell phone, but if you need a sleek computer-based calendar that can handle the basics, it's an excellent choice.

Efficient Calendar Free Portable Edition comes as a ZIP file and is accessible after extraction with no need for installation.