It looks like Pimlico Software, the makers of DateBk for the Palm, are releasing a windows based calendar program called Pimlical: http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/pimlicalpreview.htm . DateBk is one of my absolute favorite programs, along with Ecco, and it is the reason that I carry around a beat up old Sony Clie today. I have not yet had a chance to look at the new program, but I have high hopes for it as I have wanted a desktop companion to DateBk for years.

--Ken

Looks interesting. Let us know what you think after you try it. I remember DateBk3 being a nice application.

-- Chris

Hi Chris,

It may be a few days before I am able to purchse and load the program. I was disappointed that I could not find any screenshots or additional description of the product.

Also, I noticed that Palm has issued a new device today called the "Pre". I am hoping that they will expand their cellular service tie-in from Sprint to Verizon because the units looks interesting.

--Ken

Pimlical is a Java app, not very appealing visually.
Very non-Windows one.
(Check Options > Preferences, for one example.)
IMHO the target group is mostly the hardcore datebk users, who could then sync Palm with Linux or Windows easily.
I guess technically it might really be superior to other calendaring apps on the market, but market-wise it's no competition for them.

Thomas wrote:

Pimlical is a Java app, not very appealing visually.
Very non-Windows one.
(Check
Options > Preferences, for one example.)
IMHO the target group is mostly the
hardcore datebk users, who could then sync Palm with Linux or Windows easily.
I guess
technically it might really be superior to other calendaring apps on the market, but
market-wise it's no competition for them.

I had a chance to install and look at the program. I am hoping that the intent is a cross-platform program that will synch with mobile devices (read Java) . If that is the case, then the program has a good chance of surviving. If not, then I do not understand what would drive people to use it as there are already a large number of calendar programs out there. It retains many of the powerful features that DateBk brought to the original Palm platform, and they could certainly prove useful on most mobile devices. And, having a powerful program that can synch with a desktop would also prove useful. But, until I find a suitable replacement for my Sony Clie, I will just be watching Pimlical's development. I am curious about the new Palm Pre, but am in no rush to be an early adopter.

--Ken

Pimlical now has an Android app:
http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/index.html

I used to be a huge Datebk6 fan but sadly I have no use for Android, as I've been captured by the Apple people.

Dr Andus wrote:

Pimlical now has an Android app:
http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/index.html

I
used to be a huge Datebk6 fan but sadly I have no use for Android, as I've been captured by
the Apple people.

Thanks for passing along this news. I'll give it a look as I was also a huge DateBk fan, but I am now using Pocket Informant and I am not certain if I could switch back as I am multi-platform.

--Ken

For those wishing to avoid Google and the Apple cloud: DirectSync between Pimlical/Android and Pimlical/Desktop is Here.

http://pimlicosoftware.com/DirectSyncAnnouncement.html

I downloaded Pimlical for Windows Desktop (http://pimlicosoftware.com/index.html to trial it, it costs $19.95. One possible benefit of using it would be to back up a Google Calendar account and be able to use the calendar when the Internet is down.

This made me want to check some free desktop calendar alternatives that can sync and save Google Calendar data but it seemed that many of them either stopped being developed (Sunbird) or are bundled with email (which I don't need) or are no longer free (Rainlendar Pro). I don't mind paying a bit of money for it, though free would be nice.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a good desktop calendar for the PC that syncs with Google Calendar, mostly for backup and archiving purposes but also if it's superior to using Google Calendar on a daily basis?

(Pimlical looks sophisticated but I'm not entirely taken by the interface.)

Dr Andus wrote:

Does anyone have a suggestion for a
good desktop calendar for the PC that syncs with Google Calendar, mostly for backup
and archiving purposes but also if it's superior to using Google Calendar on a daily
basis?

My suggestion is to use Outlook, which most probably you already have. I'm not referring to Outlook as an interface necessarily, but rather as a database platform equivalent to Google online. You can set up the sync with Google's own free sync utility. There on, Outlook's data can be accessed by a variety of programs.

A small gem I used in the past was Datelens, a brilliantly space-efficient zoomable calendar view. I'm not sure whether it still works with recent versions of Outlook, but I expect it to: http://windsorinterfaces.com/datelens.shtml

I admit that I am quite happy with Google calendar, so even though my calendar data is continuously synced with my desktop, I do most of my work in the browser. In my Android phone I use Jorte which I find great.

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

My suggestion is
to use Outlook, which most probably you already have. I'm not referring to Outlook as
an interface necessarily, but rather as a database platform equivalent to Google
online. You can set up the sync with Google's own free sync utility. There on,
Outlook's data can be accessed by a variety of programs.

Thanks for that, great suggestion. Now I'm glad I installed MS Office 32-bit and not 64-bit, as the sync utility doesn't work with 64-bit...

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

>My suggestion is
>to use Outlook, which most
probably you already have. I'm not referring to Outlook as
>an interface
necessarily, but rather as a database platform equivalent to Google
>online. You
can set up the sync with Google's own free sync utility. There on,
>Outlook's data can
be accessed by a variety of programs.

Thanks for that, great suggestion. Now I'm
glad I installed MS Office 32-bit and not 64-bit, as the sync utility doesn't work with
64-bit...

The Google Cal-Outlook sync works fine except that first I chose 2-way sync and Outlook now populated the event descriptions in Google Cal with some ugly code. I suppose I'll have to choose to 1-way Google Cal to Outlook sync to put an end to that...

Dr Andus wrote:

The Google Cal-Outlook sync works fine
except that first I chose 2-way sync and Outlook now populated the event descriptions
in Google Cal with some ugly code. I suppose I'll have to choose to 1-way Google Cal to
Outlook sync to put an end to that...

I've used 2-way sync for ages with no problem. Otherwise it would have been useless for me at least until recently, when I started using the Google interface almost 100% of my desktop time.

Could the codes have to do with some special characters?

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

I've used 2-way sync for ages with no problem. Otherwise it would
have been useless for me at least until recently, when I started using the Google
interface almost 100% of my desktop time.

Could the codes have to do with some
special characters?

No, I'm not using any special characters. Anyway, it's not a big deal, I only need Outlook as the back-up, otherwise I don't use it all.

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

Dr Andus wrote:
>Does anyone have a suggestion for a
>good desktop calendar for the PC that syncs with Google Calendar,
mostly for backup
>and archiving purposes but also if it's superior to using Google
Calendar on a daily
>basis?

My suggestion is to use Outlook, which most probably you already have.
I'm not referring to Outlook as an interface necessarily, but rather as
a database platform equivalent to Google online. You can set up the sync
with Google's own free sync utility. There on, Outlook's data can be
accessed by a variety of programs.

I've stayed with Outlook for backing up my Google Calendar data, but I've just come across this additional utility (haven't tried it yet):
http://mountwhite.net/en/googlecal.html
http://code.google.com/p/googlegalwindowsclient/

Dr Andus wrote:

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:
Dr Andus wrote:
>>Does anyone have a suggestion for a
>>good desktop calendar for the PC that syncs with Google Calendar,
>mostly for backup
>>and archiving purposes but also if it's superior to using Google
>Calendar on a daily
>>basis?
>
>My suggestion is to use Outlook, which most probably you already have.
>I'm not referring to Outlook as an interface necessarily, but rather as
>a database platform equivalent to Google online. You can set up the
sync
>with Google's own free sync utility. There on, Outlook's data can be
>accessed by a variety of programs.

I've stayed with Outlook for backing up my Google Calendar data, but
I've just come across this additional utility (haven't tried it yet):
http://mountwhite.net/en/googlecal.html
http://code.google.com/p/googlegalwindowsclient/

EssentialPIM is not a free utility, but a full fledged desktop PIM that synchronizes very nicely with Google Calendar, Contacts and ToDo.

I could never tolerate Outlook as an email client, but used it for many years as a PIM, synching it to Palm devices with Chapura, and later, Blackberry with the Blackberry Desktop Manager. When I moved to Android, I used CompanionLink (http://www.companionlink.com/ for synching with Google Calendar. When I switched from Office 2003 to Office 2010 (skipping Office 2007), I stopped using Outlook altogether and spent a fair amount of effort looking for a decent desktop client for Google Calendar before finding EssentialPIM.

Note that EssentialPIM costs less than CompanionLink and also synchronizes nicely with Outlook. Although it has a free Android app (also one for iOS), I don't use that on my phones or tablets. On the desktop, it runs only under Windows, but it can be run as a portable app, which means it can run from a USB drive and also means that it is very easy to copy or move one's data files between mutliple PCs, or back them up.

It's also worth mentioning that EssentialPIM has a fairly competent server version for sharing stuff, based on open-source database Firebird. It takes a little time to work out how to use it, but it seems to run efficiently. We've not engaged with EssentialPIM at this level simply because its search function isn't entirely predictable, sometimes failing to find stuff you know is there. But it's a very pleasant (and relatively lightweight) information manager, as well as an increasingly competent mail client.

It might be worth taking a look at Everdesk for this type of requirement. Though it is not free and does not have an iOS component, it seems to offer some quite unique integration with Google's services( and Outlook) and gives you an email, contacts and calendar integration and backup.
Here: https://www.everdesk.com/features

There is now also a direct way to download Google Calendar data (Gmail download wasn't available to me at least just now, though I could download my Google Contacts):

"Download a copy of your Gmail and Google Calendar data"

http://gmailblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/download-copy-of-your-gmail-and-google.html

Got this message yesterday:

"Almost two years ago, we announced that we had ended support for Google Calendar Sync. Starting on 1 August 2014, this app will no longer sync events between your Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar."

Sounds like from now on one needs the paid-for "Google Apps for Business or Education" to be able to sync with Outlook, which starts at USD50 per year. In that light Pimlical at a one-off price of USD19.95 suddenly looks more attractive (assuming that Pimlical and other software like that don't get affected by the end of Google Calendar Sync (?)

Any other options for archiving Google Calendar on the desktop?

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

Dr Andus wrote:
>Does anyone have a suggestion for a
>good desktop calendar for the PC that syncs with Google Calendar,
mostly for backup
>and archiving purposes but also if it's superior to using Google
Calendar on a daily
>basis?

My suggestion is to use Outlook, which most probably you already have.
I'm not referring to Outlook as an interface necessarily, but rather as
a database platform equivalent to Google online. You can set up the sync
with Google's own free sync utility. There on, Outlook's data can be
accessed by a variety of programs.

Dr Andus wrote:

Any other options for archiving Google Calendar on the desktop?

Oh, I should have reviewed some of the earlier responses on this thread, as there are already some suggestions there...

Dr Andus wrote:

"Almost two years ago, we announced that we had ended support for Google
Calendar Sync. Starting on 1 August 2014, this app will no longer sync
events between your Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar."

Sounds like from now on one needs the paid-for "Google Apps for Business
or Education" to be able to sync with Outlook, which starts at USD50 per
year.

I have such an account (Business) but I don't think it makes a difference. Google treats both free (Gmail etc) and professional (Google Apps) account similarly in most respects aside of quotas. It is not even possible to have a customised login screen for Google Apps any more, e.g. with the company logo.

Do you have any information suggesting that Google Apps can sync with Outlook and how? I don't use Outlook myself, but others in the company domain do.

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

Do you have any information suggesting that Google Apps can sync with
Outlook and how? I don't use Outlook myself, but others in the company
domain do.

Yes. See here (so it seems to be a way to try to push "free" users to become paying users):

"Google Apps for Business, Education, and Government customers can use Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook."

https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/6054804?p=uninstall_sync&rd=1