A Better Mac PIM That Bests iCal and Mail…and It Plays On Windows and Linux, Too

I’m not a huge fan of Entourage but use it because Apple Mail doesn’t handle Exchange very well. I do love, love, iCal and will use it to view events since Entourage will synchronize to it. Yet still, I have to use Entourage. I still live in a PC/Mac world and thus there doesn’t seem to be much choice. But for some, there is Chandler.

Chandler is, “a next-generation Personal Information Manager (PIM), integrating calendar, email, contact management, task management, notes, and instant messaging functions.” It integrates nicely with iCal as it will easily accept ics files. It loves sharing calendars with others in the office or those around the world. Speaking of around the world, different time zones is a trivial thing for Chandler to handle and you’ll never have a missed appointment because your PIM didn’t know if you were coming from Cali or going to London.

The exciting aspect of this open source project is the teams vision for it. They see it being used by not just home users but power users with high-volume traffic. The office is what this is built for yet still the average Joe can grab it. No one is forgotten in this formula.

With its similar color toned look-and-feel of iCal, there is a low learning curve for current Mac users. You Windows or Linux users may have to learn a thing or two, but it won’t take too long to get it. Did I say Windows and Linux? Yes. That’s right, this is a cross-platform application that really brings everything together. Allowing just about anyone (sorry, no OS/2 version) from any office or home to collaborate with one another.

With such power and a price of free, this is a definite item to take a look at and see if it’s right for you. Still in its early stages, the Chandler team eagerly puts in overtime to get this one step closer to 1.0. Some may say it’s not a prime time application, but I would say at least it looks a lot better than Entourages calendar view. :)

[tags]windows,mac,os x,osx,freeware,linux,chandler,pim,calendar,management,information,open,ical,source,presonal[/tags]