Web Calendaring is all the Rage

Getting organized has suddenly become the right thing to do. The reason...Google recently came out with a free on-line calendar that has become a media darling. Now, its no secret that calendaring and organizational software has been around for quite some time. Look no further than my blogs as I have occasionally written about these kinds of programs since I first started writing my newsletter all those years ago.

And, being a somewhat organized person who is always looking for a better way, I have tried many of them...Especially the free ones! These days, I use Lotus Organizer, V.6.1, a program that I once used many years ago and got away from when Lotus didn't do a good job keeping up with Windows. In between times, I used Microsoft's very popular Outlook, Franklin-Covey's PlanPlus, EssentialPIM Pro, MediaBee (for group organization), Yahoo's Calendar, and a few others. Now, I am back to Organizer and am very happy. It works just great for me and I was willing to pay for it.

But, maybe an on-line organizational program may be just right for you. But which one to choose? Well, I suggest you give them all a try, since they are free. As mentioned above, I have tried and am still experimenting with MediaBee for sharing calendars with Susan and other members of our family. Starting this weekend, we live such separate lives with me on the road that keeping up with each other's plans can be difficult. This one may work well for our lifestyle.

I have also used Yahoo's Calendar as part of the My Yahoo program that I still think is outstanding after all these years. I access the My Yahooo page almost everyday to access information that I deem to be important. I don't use the Calendar feature anymore as I prefer to use Lotus Organizer. But, Yahoo has kept improving it over the years and it is a good one.

I've not used the new Google Calendar, but Elinor Mills, a reporter for CNET, has done an in-depth report, not only about the new program, but also switching from her trusted paper notebook that she carried everywhere to Google Calendar. It was a good read.

If you would like to see what the calendar pages look like from the major on-line players, click on this link to see some screen shots.

And finally, you can read CNET's head-to-head review of goggle's' Calendar vs Yahoo's Calendar and see which one their reviewers think is the best. Getting organized is a good thing to do, especially as one gets older and can't remember things as well anymore. Maybe one of the free on-line calendar and organizing programs is just what you need.

Well, I am off to Leavenworth today for my first art show of the year, so my tech blogs may be few and far between for the next six months. But I will try to keep it going when I can.