Calendar app for Mavericks wanted

[Morod]

I recently upgraded to Mavericks from Snow Leopard and I really dislike the change Apple made from iCal to Calendar.
Can anyone suggest a new calendar app that is more like iCal?
I use the “Month” view mostly, and I miss having several entries showing, as iCal did. Calendar shows the first event, then it says “2 more” or however many. Then you have to click on the day to find out what else is scheduled.
It also wants an appointment’s location so it can tell me the drive time. Sorry, I’m an adult and can figure out for myself when I need to leave to arrive at the correct time. I want to know the time of the actual appointment, not the time Calendar thinks I need to leave.
So here’s what I’d like to find:
A calendar that shows a monthly view.
The ability to show several events on any particular day. It can be a short entry, that expands if you need to click on it.
The time of the actual appointment.
The ability to color-code entries, as in iCal and Calendar. Say, one color for Health, one color for Work, one color for Vacations, etc.
It does not have to sync with iCloud as I only use the calendar on my iMac desktop. I never go online to check it.
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[AndyK]

The bigger the window the more entries it shows. Mine shows 4-5 (usually everything) per day.

I would imagine this is the same for any app depending on your resolution / window size.

 

[mojolicious]

Having added around two dozen events yesterday (kids' school dates etc) I have to agree that Calendar is absolutely horrific, and 20 minutes of continuous use doesn't make the process of entering events any faster or less horrific.

*subscribes to thread*

 

[Weaselboy]

Not cheap, but you might like BusyCal. It is similar to the old iCal. They have a 30 trial you can try out.

 

[Morod]

Not cheap, but you might like BusyCal. It is similar to the old iCal. They have a 30 trial you can try out.

No, not cheap, but it looks like what I want. Thanks very much for the link, Weaselboy!

 

[mjt57]

Not cheap, but you might like BusyCal. It is similar to the old iCal. They have a 30 trial you can try out.

What makes it worth $40?

What benefits does it have over the Calendar app?

I use Thunderbird and the Google and Lightning Calendar add-ons. Being free it's not a bad way to do it. Not sure if it's as good as BusyCal, though.

Does BusyCal sync with external calendars? I have T'Bird's Cal sync'ed to a number of Google Calendars which I use for different categories, mainly so that they show up as different colors, similar to how Outlook's calendar appears in desktop computers, but with the added syncability...

 

[Morod]

What makes it worth $40?

What benefits does it have over the Calendar app?

I use Thunderbird and the Google and Lightning Calendar add-ons. Being free it's not a bad way to do it. Not sure if it's as good as BusyCal, though.

Does BusyCal sync with external calendars? I have T'Bird's Cal sync'ed to a number of Google Calendars which I use for different categories, mainly so that they show up as different colors, similar to how Outlook's calendar appears in desktop computers, but with the added syncability...

I dunno. I had the free trial of BusyCal for three days and got rid of it. It kind of looked like the old iCal, but it didn't act like it.
So I'm starting to get familiar with Calendar. One thing I found, in the View menu, is the ability to turn off Show Travel Time. That's a plus for me.

 

[ScottNWDW]

What makes it worth $40?

What benefits does it have over the Calendar app?

I use Thunderbird and the Google and Lightning Calendar add-ons. Being free it's not a bad way to do it. Not sure if it's as good as BusyCal, though.

Does BusyCal sync with external calendars? I have T'Bird's Cal sync'ed to a number of Google Calendars which I use for different categories, mainly so that they show up as different colors, similar to how Outlook's calendar appears in desktop computers, but with the added syncability...

The benefits that BusyCal2 has over the built in Calendar app is that BusyCal also helps you manage tasks. The Calendar will sync with the Apple Calendar and the tasks will sync with the Apple Reminders App. With that said, they sync then via iCloud to your other Macs, iPads, iPhones, iPods etc. Besides that you can also enter in the times in 24 hour format. BusyCal2 is exactly what iCal should have been or as many have described it was iCal on steroids. With BusyCal you could also have the weather for the upcoming 5 days or so showing on the calendar. I use BusyCal on my Mac all the time and rarely open the Apple Calendar.

 

[Alrescha]

Having added around two dozen events yesterday (kids' school dates etc) I have to agree that Calendar is absolutely horrific, and 20 minutes of continuous use doesn't make the process of entering events any faster or less horrific.

*subscribes to thread*

When folks at work complain about adding events to Calendar, I usually point them to the big "+" button and tell them to just type their appointment in plain English. The response is usually a quiet "Oh".

A.

 

[mojolicious]

When folks at work complain about adding events to Calendar, I usually point them to the big "+" button and tell them to just type their appointment in plain English. The response is usually a quiet "Oh".

Oh.

Google Calendar does something similar but not, seemingly, quite as intelligently, but really I prefer just typing into fields rather than all this 'pseudo-Siri for your fingers' nonsense. I've got used to clicking on Google Calendar and immediately going to 'edit event'...