HyperCalendar Free for Windows

Believe it or not, "PIM" once meant "BlackBerry," a handheld personal information manager. Cell phones now do what PIMs once did for most folks, but PIMs are still with us in the form of personal organization software. HyperCalendar Free is one of the nicer examples of a free PIM we've seen. Its semitransparent desktop display combines a calendar, an analog clock face, an encrypted rich text diary and planner, and other features. Better still, it's free in perpetuity, including updates.

HyperCalendar Free opens in two parts, the translucent desktop calendar and clock and the main interface. The freeware shares the same basic layout as the Pro version, though some features, such as the Recorder, are only available in the Pro edition. We're more interested in the main features, the Reminder and Diary, so the sound recorder wasn't missed.

The Reminder tab is nicely configured, packing essential features in an efficient, attractive layout. Reminders are totally easy to set: Click a date on the calendar display, and choose your alarm options, media files, and other settings, and HyperCalendar adds them to your queue. Clicking Media Files let us browse to our library to add our own sounds. Clicking Play Now previewed our Reminder. The Diary incorporates a rich-text tool with a full range of font, editing, and formatting tools, plus you can change the background color, insert images, and other personalization options. Right-clicking the calendar and clock display let us configure how we wanted it to behave, change its transparency, and access the program's other features. HyperCalendar Free isn't devoid of extras: We could change the color scheme, import data, and synchronize our holidays with an online site, for instance. A fully packed Help file includes a manual, a Web link, contacts, an error log, updates, and more.

HyperCalendar Free offers excellent performance and convenience in the personal organization tools you need the most. And, let's be frank: simpler, easier tools are the ones you're more likely to use, too. The Pro upgrade is available if you need more features. The freeware works for us.