Cross platform "family" calendars apps????

[ftaok]

Hey folks,

I've been wanting/needing a shared calendar app that is cross platform (windows/OS X SL/iOS) for a while now. I've missed enough appointments where it's becoming an issue.

Anyone know of a good cross platform calendar app (native or web is acceptable)? I'd like to be able to merge my calendar with my wifes and also include the kids activities and such.

Right now, we're using paper and it's not working so well from a sharing point of view.

I've messed around with Google calendar, but it seems a little cumbersome. Plus, I'm a little weary about Google's invasiveness.

Ultimately, I would use my work laptop (windows XP) ... it has Outlook on it, but I can add apps if needed. My wife would use her Macbook (OS X 10.6) and/or iPad2.

Any ideas or suggestions? Do the Apple Calendar apps play well with MS Outlook? Is there a way to export a calendar database and import only the changes?

Thanks.

ft

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

why not just use the iCal app on the mac and set up iCloud. The calendar will sync with any iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch/Mac you have, and then you can just pull up icloud.com from your PC to view the calendar.

If you want, you could also set up a google calendar. This would be viewable from the web on any device. You could even set it up to sync with iCal (and your products) by following the directions here...
http://www.groovypost.com/howto/osx-lion-import-google-calendars-icloud/

 

[ftaok]

why not just use the iCal app on the mac and set up iCloud. The calendar will sync with any iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch/Mac you have, and then you can just pull up icloud.com from your PC to view the calendar.

If you want, you could also set up a google calendar. This would be viewable from the web on any device. You could even set it up to sync with iCal (and your products) by following the directions here...
http://www.groovypost.com/howto/osx-lion-import-google-calendars-icloud/

I had thought of using iCloud to do this ... and on paper, it would be simple. The problem, however, is that iCloud requires 10.7 and Vista/W7. We have neither.

As for Google calendar, that's the Plan B for us. I do have reservations with keeping my schedule in Google's domain, but it's probably just paranoia.

Thanks for the help.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

I still think you could use iCloud... set it up from an iPhone, then you just have to access it at iCloud.com from your computers. If you can't go to icloud.com and look at your calendar from any OS, apple really screwed that up. I can't see them blocking you from viewing a website because you are running Windows XP.

Yeah, definitely paranoia. It's not like google cares enough to specifically monitor you. I don't think they are going to watch your schedule and send goons after you and your family because they know where your soccer game is at 3:00 on sunday.

 

[ftaok]

I still think you could use iCloud... set it up from an iPhone, then you just have to access it at iCloud.com from your computers. If you can't go to icloud.com and look at your calendar from any OS, apple really screwed that up. I can't see them blocking you from viewing a website because you are running Windows XP.

I think our problem is that we don't have iPhones Plus, my wife really only uses the iPad at night and upstairs. Realistically, she would update her calendar with the Macbook which can't be updated to Lion.

Yeah, definitely paranoia. It's not like google cares enough to specifically monitor you. I don't think they are going to watch your schedule and send goons after you and your family because they know where your soccer game is at 3:00 on sunday.

This may be my only option. My issue with it is that the webapp is clunky (at least it is on Win/IE8). I'm guessing that it would work the same on the Macbook/Safari. But if it gets the job done ...

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

I think our problem is that we don't have iPhones Plus, my wife really only uses the iPad at night and upstairs. Realistically, she would update her calendar with the Macbook which can't be updated to Lion.

This may be my only option. My issue with it is that the webapp is clunky (at least it is on Win/IE8). I'm guessing that it would work the same on the Macbook/Safari. But if it gets the job done ...

you can edit the calendar from a web browser on icloud.com, that's what I'm trying to tell you. Set up the calendar once (with an iCloud login on your iPad) and you can just go to icloud.com from any computer and view/edit your calendar. Not sure what else you want here....?

 

[ftaok]

you can edit the calendar from a web browser on icloud.com, that's what I'm trying to tell you. Set up the calendar once (with an iCloud login on your iPad) and you can just go to icloud.com from any computer and view/edit your calendar. Not sure what else you want here....?

I'll have to try this out at home, but I don't think it'll work. I had an iCloud account when it was beta. It worked on my work laptop (WinXP). After they went 1.0 with iCloud, they dropped support for SL and XP.

I can log into the iCloud page, but the only thing that I can select is the "Find My iPhone/iPad" button. All of the other buttons, including Calendar, are greyed out.

Perhaps I have to set up the calendar first with a compatible device ... which appears to be what you're saying. I really hope it works and that once it's set up, both my wife and I can access the calendar and update it from our laptops.

Thanks.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

I'm not sure... it should work with xp, not sure why apple would block them from accessing the web portal, but apple has done stranger things in the past.

Post back and let me know if you can't visit icloud.com. Curious to know!

 

[pprior]

We use busycal for the mac stuff and google calendar with their beta sync software to link outlook at work to the google intermediary.

It's a bit cumbersome to set up, and has its quirks, but it works for the most part.

 

[Dweez]

We use google calendar and don't find it "cumbersome" whatsoever.

 

[basesloaded190]

You don't need to have vista/Win7 to be able to go to icloud.com. I am sitting at my work computer and can do that on XP. Then you can have your calender online and it will sync with you ipad/iphone/whatever

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

You don't need to have vista/Win7 to be able to go to icloud.com. I am sitting at my work computer and can do that on XP. Then you can have your calender online and it will sync with you ipad/iphone/whatever

thank you, i knew you didnt' need Lion to visit iCloud.com

 

[ftaok]

You don't need to have vista/Win7 to be able to go to icloud.com. I am sitting at my work computer and can do that on XP. Then you can have your calender online and it will sync with you ipad/iphone/whatever

After reading through the info at Apple.com, I think the issue is that I have to have a compatible device to do the initial set-up. A compatible device is one that uses iOS5, Lion, Vista, or W7. Right now, we don't have a compatible device ... unless I upgrade the iPad2 to iOS5.

Let's assume for the moment that this is indeed my issue. Once I get the calendar feature on iCloud up and running, will I be able to update the calendar through iClould.com using an XP (or snow leopard) machine? Ultimately, this is what I want to do.

We use google calendar and don't find it "cumbersome" whatsoever.

One of the annoyances that I'm having with Google calendar is that when you add an event or task by clicking the appropriate date block, the pop-up window can block out 6 to 8 adjoining dates (depending on where you clicked). Often times, the pop-up box blocks out other appointments that I still need to see. I would prefer a way to use something other than a pop-up.

There are other cumbersome aspects ... such as the order the Tasks are arranged in. If you choose "Sort by Due Date", then you get a bunch of +/- boxes and the list grows long. If you sort by "My Order", then they'll sorted in the order that you added them, until you manually sort them.

Just a few nitpicks with the interface that I don't particularly enjoy. Perhaps it's because I'm used to Outlook's calendar.

 

[basesloaded190]

After reading through the info at Apple.com, I think the issue is that I have to have a compatible device to do the initial set-up. A compatible device is one that uses iOS5, Lion, Vista, or W7. Right now, we don't have a compatible device ... unless I upgrade the iPad2 to iOS5.

Let's assume for the moment that this is indeed my issue. Once I get the calendar feature on iCloud up and running, will I be able to update the calendar through iClould.com using an XP (or snow leopard) machine? Ultimately, this is what I want to do.

.

Yes.

 

[Consultant]

I'll have to try this out at home, but I don't think it'll work. I had an iCloud account when it was beta. It worked on my work laptop (WinXP). After they went 1.0 with iCloud, they dropped support for SL and XP.
...

iCloud WORKS on XP. Just tested it.

You need to create an account on an iOS device (in your case, iPad) or Lion.

 

[ftaok]

Yes.

iCloud WORKS on XP. Just tested it.

You need to create an account on an iOS device (in your case, iPad) or Lion.

OK, so I now have two independent confirmations that this will work with XP. Great.

Now, I just have to update the iPad to iOS5. I better check the battery life threads to see if they've sorted that out yet.

 

[ftaok]

UPDATE - OK, so xxBurtonxx (as well as baseloaded and consultant) was indeed correct. The icloud website does indeed work on XP, but you have to have a compatible device to set it up first. Luckily, we have an iPad2 that is compatible, so I used that to set up iCloud.

As for the usefulness of iCloud, it's seems to hit on all of my requirements. I can view/update the calendar from work on my XP machine and my wife can do the same at home with the iPad or her Macbook. I've decided on using a single AppleID at the moment.

I do have two complaints. First, the website is really slow. Not sure why it's so slow, perhaps because it uses so much HTML5. I'm using IE8, so maybe if I use a better browser, it'll help.

Second complaint is that you can't print your calendars ... unless I'm missing something. Printing from the browser results in a garbled mess.

Not sure if I'm going to continue to use iCloud or if I just bite the bullet and use Google calendar. Event entry is a little better with iCloud, but the same issue with the pop-up blocking the calendar view exists with both apps.

I'm sure using the calendar on the iPad would be a much better experience ... and ultimately, we'll probably get iPhones. We shall see.

Thanks everyone for the help and support on this.

ft

UPDATE - the slowness was indeed due to the browser I was using. iCloud on IE8 is super slow. I tried using Firefox (7.0.1) and it was lightning fast. Printing is still messy.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

i think it's just your computer that's slow, not icloud.com

IDK why you don't like the pop up.... you leave it up after you add the event or something? Finish editing all of the details, click close, and it goes away, you don't have to leave it there..?

If you can't deal with your calendar being slightly blocked by a pop up for 20 seconds while you add a new event, I'm not sure you will find any calendar you like.

As for printing, right click the calendar, go to this frame, print frame.

 

[ftaok]

i think it's just your computer that's slow, not icloud.com

It's not the computer. I've actually got a decent laptop for work. It's a quad-core i5 with a boatload of RAM. Turns out, the speed issue is IE8. iCloud is blazing fast on Firefox.

IDK why you don't like the pop up.... you leave it up after you add the event or something? Finish editing all of the details, click close, and it goes away, you don't have to leave it there..?

I guess it's just a preference thing. When I add an event, I still like to see the rest of my calendar. Sometimes, I need to make sure dates and times aren't blocked out. I'm sort of used to using Outlook. With Outlook, you can move the pop-up out of the way if you want/need to. I have dual screens at work, so it's easy to keep the calendar view unobstructed and still have the pop-up to edit the event.

If you can't deal with your calendar being slightly blocked by a pop up for 20 seconds while you add a new event, I'm not sure you will find any calendar you like.

I guess all web-based calendars behave this way. I guess I would prefer if instead of a pop-up, the screen reconfigured with a separate section to do the event detail entry. But I can deal with the way it works currently.

As for printing, right click the calendar, go to this frame, print frame.

That didn't work. I tried on IE8, Firefox and Safari. Each time, I get a jumbled mess. The only thing that did work was CTRL-ALT-PrtScn to copy the Safari window and pasting into Excel to print. Not the best workflow, but it's workable.

 

[exegete77]

For our national staff (four people spread throughout the US), we use Google Calendar. Two use Macs with Lion (recently, but both and been using Snow Leopard until late last year), and two with Windows (both Windows 7, but both had Windows XP). We have never had a problem sharing the calendars.

 

[ftaok]

Just wanted to update this thread to add that the Calendar app on the iPad is great. It's worth it to use iCloud for your calendar needs just based on the iPad app alone.

Adding events and such is so easy and smooth. It's got me thinking about picking up an iPod touch to use mainly as a PDA.

 

[Enzedder]

Cross platform "family" calendars apps????

The options I went for on our differing OS's via Google were iCal for OSX and Calgoo for Windows. Although Calgoo is now discontinued and no longer supported it can still be found online from various sources, it was shareware but is now free. I think it was one of the best calendaring apps out there and I don't know why they stopped supporting it? HTH?