scheduling

Mimosa is well known in the education community as a versatile scheduling and course-planning application that's used in schools and universities around the world, but it's also suitable for business, industry, nonprofits, and any place that can benefit from better scheduling and planning. Though the full package is a substantial purchase, Mimosa Small School Edition is freeware. It's fully functional but has some limitations, such as saving only 100 "codes" compared with the full package's 8,000 plus. However, that's more than enough to help smaller schools and institutions improve their scheduling and … Read more

Siri Assistant is a free app that uses impressively accurate voice recognition to help you complete a wide variety of tasks, from making dinner reservations to calling a taxi to sending yourself an e-mail reminder.

Despite the hard-core DARPA technology behind it, Siri Assistant has a disarmingly simple interface, which looks like a scrolling IM conversation that you're having with the app. The idea is that "Siri" is your assistant, who you speak to directly in the second person (or, less fun, by typing): "Where can I find a good dentist?" will pull up a … Read more

QuickCal Mobile is an app that lets you quickly create new events for your calendar using plain language typed into a text field.

Mac users may know QuickCal from the free Dashboard widget of the same name, and the interface shares some similarities: you create events in the same way, by typing into an always-on text field. QuickCal will automatically recognize most parameters--for example, "Go to gym tomorrow 11-noon," "Yard work next Saturday at Dad's house," or "Team meeting next Friday for two hours starting at 3." As you type, the app will … Read more

Things for iPhone is a well-designed, easy-to-use, highly scalable task-management app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it's even better when paired with the Mac desktop app of the same name. Like its desktop counterpart (with which it can sync over Wi-Fi), Things for iPhone offers a clean, intuitive interface based around the popular "Getting Things Done" productivity method. Tasks are collected under Projects (sets of smaller subtasks), Areas (areas of responsibility, such as work or family), and an Inbox "waiting area" for unsorted tasks.

Things also has a handy Today list (which also … Read more

Microsoft announced today it will be taking preorders for Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac. Microsoft says this major update will bring the Mac version of its office suite almost on par with the Windows version of the product. With significantly better cross-platform compatibility, several added new features, and some impressive interface elements exclusive to the Mac version, Office 2011 for Mac might be the best in its class.

Over the past couple of weeks, we had the chance to check out the entire suite--including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook--and we think there's plenty to be excited about. New and … Read more

CallitADay is an easy, inviting app that helps you create an electronic diary, with text, images, and even audio and video recording.

CallitADay's streamlined interface suits its straightforward purpose: the main, three-part window has a calendar (to start an entry, you select the date you want), a sidebar of previous entries (which you can organize by topic and browse as thumbnails, in a grid or Cover Flow-style), and a large editing pane, with controls for zooming, changing fonts and color, and browsing back through previous entries. This main window also has buttons for quickly creating audio and video recordings (… Read more

Effective project management is not a matter of crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, but rather of planning for things that could go wrong and knowing in advance how you'll deal with them. RiskyProject Professional is an easy way to complete all aspects of project planning and tracking, including the analysis of and preparation for potential risks.

The program's interface isn't the most beautiful we've ever seen, but it's well-organized and easy to navigate. There are drop-down menus and toolbars across the top, while the program's major functions--Schedule, Risks, Analysis, Tracking, and … Read more

Business Appointment Manager (BAM) from Business Management Systems is a multiuser, network-capable business software and database suite that bundles scheduling, billing, customer contact, and a variety of reporting tools. The program can help coordinate appointments and other important events and actions, everything from ordering supplies and reserving conference rooms to sales, client meetings, and purchasing, helping to reduce wasteful duplication and conflicts like double-booking. It also integrates billing, customer relations, and business-planning tools, all in one comprehensive, shared interface.

When you install BAM, you have the option of installing the full program, which includes SQL Server components, or just the … Read more

It's not always easy to keep everyone on the same page when you have multiple employees working on the same projects, but with different tasks, appointments, and deadlines. We love the idea of a networked task manager that lets employees keep up with both individual and team tasks and activities. Unfortunately, A VIP Task Manager Professional Edition does a terrible job of executing this concept. Any time that could be saved by keeping employees abreast of each others' activities will surely be lost trying to figure this program out.

The application's interface is a disaster. It's cluttered … Read more