Good morning everyone:

I realize that this is slightly off topic, but this is the best group I could think of to ask the question, so here it is.

Is there a good way to move meetings from email to calendar on a Mac? As background-I spent a long time in industry. Initially we had no email, but eventually we were using Exchange with Outlook clients(PC centered place.) I know the reputation that Outlook has, but there were many things about it that I liked. One was the ability to schedule things. Emails that were sent often had meeting requests, and Outlook dealt with them conveniently and easily. No muss, no fuss. Secondly, my calendar was in Outlook. I managed my calendar in Outlook and never had a problem. We also had Outlook Web Access, but I never used that.

Now I am on a Mac, and in an environment where everyone has different email clients, though the University provides Gmail as the underpinnings.

My question is: How do I set things up so that I can conveniently add meeting requests to my calendar, and trust that the appropriate things are scheduled at the appropriate time? I had a conflict earlier this week, and since my software didn't notice this, I went to one meeting, but not the other one. Not a big deal this time, but it is irritating.

Is Outlook on the Mac a good choice? I have the option of continuing to use Gmail, or switching over to an Exchange based system. However, if other people aren't using Exchange, then I am going to be having the same problem.

This is one of those modern problems that I never anticipated when I was younger.

Jim

Hi Jim.

1. Outlook 2013 for Mac is almost the same as Outlook 2013 for Windows (except for the looks and the keyboard shortcuts). It is much better and more stable than Outlook 2011 for Mac.
2. You know you can create an appointment by simply dragging an email to the Calendar button in Outlook?
3. You do not necessarily need Exchange to exchange meeting requests. It's just that sender and receiver need to use Outlook.
4. Alternatively, the sender has to save the appointment as an iCalendar file (ICS) and attach that file to an email. Most calendar tools on Windows, Macintosh, Linux, iOS and Android can import iCalendar files (= the appointment).

I usually use (4) to send meeting invitations to people not using Outlook.

Franz

Depending on your needs, Zimbra Desktop is multiple platform and does what you ask.



direct link to downloads.


There are solutions for small business up, the desktop version can be standalone. It is Java based, large at 95-115MB in size. Not a thin client.

Have run Chaos Software Intelect under Parallels (or any Virtual Machine software)


This is one area that Mac is behind Windows imho

Nah, actually the Mac's way ahead thanks to the 'Services' concept. You can 'send' e-mails to most types of event/task management app (including Apple's own Calendar) from most e-mail clients (including Apple Mail).

We use Airmail 2.0, as it happens, but if I right-click on an e-mail and press 'Send to', I have options for:
- Apple Calendar
- Apple Reminders
- 2Do
- OmniFocus
- Things
(that's just based on what I currently happen to have installed)

Do keep looking at 'Services' (also available from the main app menu - next to 'File' - in most desktop apps) as you install more stuff on your Mac; you'll find all sorts of amazing things on there. New Mac users are sometimes a little shy about right-clicking, an action usually identified with Windows, but right-clicking on a Mac is actually just as productive!

Cheers,
Bill

The latest Outlook for Mac isn't bad, but it isn't very good, either. We tried it before deciding in favour of Airmail, but were appalled at how badly (= painfully slowly) it handles multiple IMAP accounts. I have around six e-mail accounts, which I admit is unusual; people with fewer accounts may be very happy with Outlook.

Airmail is very quick (much better than Apple Mail, IMHO, with an excellent search function).

From the Moo.do thread I learned about Mailbird http://www.getmailbird.com/ which, in the opinion of Moo.do's developers is "the best email app for Windows". It seems to integrate mail, tasks and calendar management in a paradigm similar to Agenda At Once (which did not have email), i.e. drag'n'drop between sections.

Has anybody used Mailbird?

I have, and I was not terribly impressed with it: (a) resource use is quite heavy; (b) much, though admittedly not all, of the functionality it offers is available with other email clients, e.g. Thunderbird with appropriate extensions; (c) perhaps most important - Mailbird has potential privacy concerns which may make you indisposed to using it; see for example the discussion of Mailbird (2) at: http://cubiq.org/the-best-and-the-worst-email-clients-for-windows

That said, in the final analysis it's your call...

Thanks for this info; apparently v2.0 encrypts the info and should add opt-out of 'phoning home', but the approach is disconcerting anyway.

LM7 wrote:

I have, and I was not terribly impressed with it: (a) resource use is
quite heavy; (b) much, though admittedly not all, of the functionality
it offers is available with other email clients, e.g. Thunderbird with
appropriate extensions; (c) perhaps most important - Mailbird has
potential privacy concerns which may make you indisposed to using it;
see for example the discussion of Mailbird (2) at:
http://cubiq.org/the-best-and-the-worst-email-clients-for-windows