Travel Technology - Scheduling/calendar software

Does anyone have a recommendation for scheduling/calendar software (even better if it's a free tool)?

I'd like to be able to automatically generate monthly printable calendars with recurring scheduled tasks. For example, say I have a meeting scheduled for the first Thursday of every month at 10 am, I want to be able to simply enter that once and have the software fill that in for me for the rest of the year; then I want to have the monthly schedule in a printable form so I can distribute it. Additionally it would also be nice to be able to set a recurring meeting based on the date (e.g. every 5th day of the month).

I know Outlook has a calendar feature, but note that in the first case mentioned, I would have to go look and see what the date is for the first Thursday of the month before I could schedule it in (and I don't want to do that).

It does not need to necessarily be integrable with Outlook while that of course would be nice.

What about Google Calendar (http://www.google.com/calendar)? Multiple calendars, printable, and recurring.

I've been using Time & Chaos for 15 years and it will do what you need.

www.isbister.com

cblaisd, thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out sometime. Hartmann's suggestion to use Google Calendar seems like it will pretty much work -and it's free. Free is good :)

What about Google Calendar (http://www.google.com/calendar)? Multiple calendars, printable, and recurring.

Brilliant. Thanks! This should do the trick.

Actually, if you select "new recurring appointment" in Outlook, and then choose "monthly" in the Appointment Recurrence box, it does give you the option to choose the first Monday, fourth Tuesday, etc.

Or, at least, it does in Outlook 2003.

Hmm..we're not running Outlook 2003..I don't think I saw that option for the version installed at work but will check again.

I also use T&C. the only missing feature(or I cannot find it) is the ability to mark and dial a number that is outside t&C.

Actually, if you select "new recurring appointment" in Outlook, and then choose "monthly" in the Appointment Recurrence box, it does give you the option to choose the first Monday, fourth Tuesday, etc.

Or, at least, it does in Outlook 2003.

Hmm..we're not running Outlook 2003..I don't think I saw that option for the version installed at work but will check again.

:o Checked it out at work this morning..we are running Outlook 2003 and as you say Tennisbum it can do this. I'm still partial to Google calendar though. What I didnt mention in the original post is that a lot of the meetings don't apply to me; with google calendar I can set it up as a separate calendar and delete the entire thing if I want to after I'm done. I don't think I can do this with Outlook..or am I mistaken?

:o Checked it out at work this morning..we are running Outlook 2003 and as you say Tennisbum it can do this. I'm still partial to Google calendar though. What I didnt mention in the original post is that a lot of the meetings don't apply to me; with google calendar I can set it up as a separate calendar and delete the entire thing if I want to after I'm done. I don't think I can do this with Outlook..or am I mistaken?

You can create additional calendars in Outlook 2003, but unfortunately you can't share them (you can only share the primary calendar). So it sounds as if Google will still work out best for you.

A free desktop calendar I like is Rainlendar (http://www.rainlendar.net/cms/index.php)

I use google calendar and I'm very happy with it. You can also import and export the calendar to Outlook.

Agreed, Google Calendar is great for access from anywhere/any device. However, please carefully read and understand the sharing capabilities if you choose to use them.

I was looking for some information in a public calendar this evening, and came across numerous very detailed obviously "private" calendars that were publicly shared, either through ignorance or obvious lack of concern. In a few of them, I saw record locators for airline reservations, and this on calendars where the calendar name was the full name of the owner.

Don't need to remind you how easy it is to access full itin's online with just a PNR/Last Name.

If using Google Calendar, careful with the public sharing!!!

Have you looked at Mozilla Sunbird? It's a free, open source calendar application.

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird/

One more suggestion, the Palm Desktop PIM software is a free download. It's more than a calendar, it includes a contact database, notepad, memos, expense tracking, photos, and a voice memo feature. It's clearly meant to sync with a Palm devise, but can certainly run as a stand-alone application.

http://www.palm.com/us/software/palmsoftware.html

I've been using Time & Chaos for 15 years and it will do what you need.

www.isbister.com

Discovered today that Chaos Software has made version 5 (they're now on version 7) available for free.

http://www.chaossoftware.com/programs/legacy/32bit/chaos32x.exe

User Guide: http://www.chaossoftware.com/programs/legacy/32bit/tcguide.pdf

I have used Time and Chaos for something like 15 years and I've come nowhere near using all the power it is capable of.

They also have a free tool for migrating from Outlook.

For collaboration with people not all working for the same organization, I like AirSet (http://airset.com). The printed calender formats kind of suck, though - they're planning a major upgrade in the next couple of months that is supposed to improve that.

Otherwise it's got what you want - recurring appointments, reminders, etc.