Apple Mac Laptops

Entourage for Apple Mac Laptops

I spent the better part of today exploring Entourage for Apple Mac laptops.

Currently, I use the trio Apple Mail, iCal, and Address Book for Mac. They all play very nice together. But what I am missing is a project management application and Entourage offers this.

Before I go on, let me say that I have tried OmniFocus for both my notebook and my iPod Touch. I have also given Bento a whirl on my computer. But what I really want is a native application that pulls it all together and also syncs with the iPhone or Touch. I know, what will I ask for next - an iMac that actually completes the project as well?

The bottom line is that Entourage looked promising. I recently purchased the Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac suite but never looked beyond Word and Excel. But now I faced the problem of having all my data sitting in the native Apple applications and me not willing to commit to switching before putting Microsoft through the paces.

Luckily, I discovered the option called Sync Services in the preferences menu. Using Sync Services, I could set Entourage to sync with address book and mobileme, ical and mobile me, and the Entourage notes could be set to sync with mobileme. I can even set one program’s data to override the other’s. Or set the sync preferences to combine the data. Perfect - now I could make changes in one application and they would automatically be reflected in the other. Problem solved! Or so I thought.

Ah what a tangled web we weave. My contacts synced just fine but not the groupings that I had set up in Address Book.

And my calendar was a different story. You see, Apple’s iCal supports multiple calendars - so I have a calendar set up for each family member plus a few other odd calendars for daily menus, soccer schedules and the like. But Entourage only supports one calendar and has multiple categories. In Entourage, I would have a main calendar and each event would be assigned a category - in my case each category would bear the name of each family member. And, you guessed it - iCal does not support categories.

When I set up Sync Services to sync my calendars what it basically did was create a new calendar in iCal called, oddly enough, “Entourage”. Anything that I enter on this calendar will sync with Microsoft Office on my Apple Mac laptops.

Lovely. (dripping with sarcasm)

So where does this leave me? I probably will leave the project management behind and continue on with the native Mac applications. Or I may use some convoluted combination of Microsoft Office, iCal, and Address Book. The problem with any productivity system is that if it becomes too complicated - well, I just don’t use it regularly enough to be effective.

And what about syncing with Mobile devices. I will explore this issue in a future post. But I have had enough frustration and learning for one day!

Filed Under Address Book, apple, apple mac laptops, iPod Touch, iWork, mac, microsoft office for mac, mobileme.com | Leave a Comment

Apple Mac Laptops for Home

By now many of you know that Apple Mac laptops are part of my daily life. I truly cannot function without one. I use my iPod touch as PDA, sync my calendars and contacts with mobileme.com and basically try and stay completely organized, if that is at all possible.

I truly love Apple.

But, there is always a but, isn’t there? I do find all of that technology to be pricey. Recently I have had discussions with others as to whether Mac computers are the right choices for kids. I certainly find them easier to use than the dreaded Microsoft Windows (is Vista a bad word now?). And honestly, I think their usability is unsurpassed.

The hesitation is the cost. Computers at WalMart like the Toshiba laptops are equally powerful yet only cost half as much. And yes they run the dreaded Windows Vista Home Premium or Basic. And also, many schools also run Microsoft operating systems - so having cheap computers at home that run programs used at school seems like a no brainer.

However, having made the switch to Mac - it is really hard to go back. And even if I would not be the one to use the Vista platform, I would be called upon (often, I’m sure) to troubleshoot. And I can say that I have distanced myself quickly from everything that doesn’t run the Mac OS.

So tell me, do you have Apple Mac laptops for your kids or have you opted for Windows? And do your kids drool, as mine do, every time you pass a Mac Store? I wish there was an easy answer!

Filed Under apple, apple mac laptops, iPod Touch, mobileme.com | Leave a Comment

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