asphalt-proof said:
I have to disagree. In this case, integration is not a big deal. But in an office environment, having to switch between programs in order to take care of emails, contacts, appointments, and tasks is a big time waster. Yes, iCal has the event thingy and tasks but the fact remains that its not tightly coordinated like Outlook. I really don't understand why thye just don't put iCal in with Mail.
But then I'd have to use
Mail.
There are programs out there that can integrate at least three of these on a Mac, using the internal databases. I like the fact that I don't have to use one program for everything; it usually means a program that doesn't do any as well, and it limits what you can to to what that program offers. With them as seperate componets, I can use only iCal, or only Mail, or only AddressBook, depending on what I need. And since the database is open to other apps, I can get a
different address book or whatever if I need it.
I don't see Apples apps as supposed to be the best in catagory. They are supposed to be
enough for a casual user. If you want more, you can get programs that allow more. Being seperate is better for this, because if you are a casual user of one but a heavy user of another you can just get a better program for the one you are a heavy user of. (For instance, I'm a heavy user of email, so I have Mulberry. It integrates with Address Book, of which I'm a very light user. And I nearly don't use iCal at all, but I use it just enough to appreciate that it is there. Integrating the three would actually make them
less useful to me, because I'd be tied to using them togther, and that's not how I use them.)
Use Outlook, if that's the best program for you. That's fine. Some people don't need that much, but appreciate having the ablity to use some of it on occasion.
