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Syncing Addresses, Calendar, & Tasks with Windows? 57

Posted by Cliff from the playing-nice-with-the-800lb-gorilla dept.
DJDaveET asks: "I'm a Windows XP user who has embraced OS X as an additional tool in my arsenal. It's a wonderful OS and the machine is a joy to use. My one major problem is thus -- currently, I'm a heavy Outlook user on my two Windows boxes. I use Outlook to manage my email, my contacts, my tasks, my calendar, etc. I currently use the fusionOne service to keep those two computers and my Samsung I300 phone all in sync with one another. I need to have that same information on my PowerBook. I don't really care what applications they go into, as long as they're all available. Integrated would be wonderful. I'm not in a position to be able to completely abandon my Windows boxes, so I'd like the Mac to play well with the others. How can I keep the data all in sync? What apps should I use on the Mac for the appropriate parts -- email, tasks, calendar, contacts, etc?"
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Syncing Addresses, Calendar, & Tasks with Windows? More

Syncing Addresses, Calendar, & Tasks with Windows?

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  • I'd settle for something to sync Outlook w/ Entourage. They're both MS PIMs so you'd think....

    I'd love to have an OS X native Exchange server client too, but for some reason MS doesn't want me to have one. Wonder why.

    Getting contact | calendar etc apps to play nicely across windows and OS X borders on impossible from what I've seen. Hopefully someone has had some success, but I haven't.

  • Palm? (Score:5, Informative)

    by medcalf ( 68293 ) on Tuesday September 10, 2002 @02:03PM (#4230650) Homepage
    You could get a Palm, and sync it to one of the Windows boxes. Then sync one way to the Mac (from the Palm to the Mac) and you are done.
    • Won't move your mail, but otherwise a good solution. In the past I've used this set-up to get round a hideous syncing problem.
      • He could use IMAP. That would take care of the mail syncing issue.

        I use IMAP to sync my Outlook and Webmail.
  • How about using softwindows and then running outlook? I've done exactly this on pre OS X macs.. not sure if there is an OS X compliant version of softwindows yet or not.
    • SoftWindows is a dead product. It hasn't been available for a good 3 years now. Connectix bought out the product, so now the only Windows-on-Mac solution that I know of is Connectix VirtualPC 5.0, which does run natively in Mac OS X. But this wouldn't be the best solution in my opinion, since this user wanted their contacts in Mac OS X. This would just be windows on another computer. Perhaps waiting for iSync to come out will allow the phone to sync with the Mac.
      • Connectix did not buy out the product. Connectix developed their own, superior product, and then sold it at a fraction of the cost of SoftWindows.
        • This is interesting, because a while ago, I went to Insignia's site, and they said that Connectix was providing support for SoftWindows. It appears that FWB acquired SoftWindows from Insignia in 1999, and then discontinued it in April 2001.
  • On the Mac side there is a great app called now up to date and now contact developed by Power On Software [poweronsoftware.com] that might be the PIM you are looking for on the mac. Hope that helps.
    • i have had the same probelms, which at times seemed insurmountable. well i ditched the w2k! but, i would like a tablet in the future, for my expensive windows software sitting in boxes, and power-on is in the process of developing a windows version of nudc! i am certainly looking forward to this. if you remember, planner was to be a crossplatform solution when power-on purchased nudc from qualcom.

  • Isn't this what iSync is supposed to do? (Score:4, Informative)

    by Genesishep ( 549359 ) <[sshep] [at] [adelphia.net]> on Tuesday September 10, 2002 @02:26PM (#4230834) Homepage
    I am not positive but I believe Apple is working on a solution for your problem right now. Sometime this month iSync should be released. It's entire purpose is to sync handhelds, phones, addressbooks, iCal etc with the same information.

    You can get information about it here. [apple.com]
    • The device may be able sync to other apps with iSync but you can't sync anything with Outlook on the Mac, it doesn't have the necessary hooks. Outlook isn't OS X native anyway and won't be anytime soon. In this situation where there are Windows machines in the mix, going with other apps on the Mac is doable but it isn't for everyone.

      The device syncing may also require the next generation of devices (or half a generation). Jobs's demo and the little speech by the phone guy made it sound like a "next wave" kind of thing which usually means the last wave is SOL.
      • Actually the Jobs demo is really close to being real quite soon. iSync to the PDA via Bluetooth,(names, numbers, calendar stuff...vCard and ical format...requires bluetooth on PDA) then cradle sync said PDA to Windows box...and pray... New phones and software are going to make your PDA obsolete shortly, so I wouldn't go spending too much time on this... The Sony-Ericsson T68 and others (Nokia 6310) have Bluetooth and PIM functionality built in... Good luck nevertheless.

  • The Other Way 'Round (Score:3, Insightful)

    by feldsteins ( 313201 ) <scott AT scottfeldstein DOT net> on Tuesday September 10, 2002 @02:34PM (#4230906) Homepage


    I would put that the other way 'round, myself. After all it's Microsoft that isn't giving you a platform-independent solution in this instance, not Apple.

    Like I always say there are millions of people who use Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook to do their Microsoft Exchange email and who type things in Microsoft Word and calculate things with Microsoft Excel, etc, etc, etc...and who see no problem with this. I myself do.

    OK, sorry about the rant. Email shouldn't be a problem, anything that does POP3 or IMAP4 (damned near anything) should be fine. I recommend Mail or Entourage or even Eudora or Netscape Messenger. Calendaring is a bit harder. It's not too tough to do a one-way, read-only deal for your Mac (just sync your palm on the PC and then sync it palm-overwrites-Mac on the Mac), but having true interactive exchange calendaring on the Macintosh is another thing.

    There used to be a Mac Outlook client but it's a dead product now I think. It certainly wouldn't run in OS X, anyway. The Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit is making hints that they are about to remedy this situation but there has been no official word thusfar. I'm betting that in six months they give us a full-featured or nearly full-featured outlook client
    • To add and correct:

      Microsoft Outlook 2001 for Macintosh is alive and well (released for only 1 year now). It's fully integrated with Exchange calendar (so long as you don't live in a place that does not do Daylight Savings Time--see MacWindows.com on a bug with Outlook and OS X). No, Outlook is not an OS X-native application.

      I've been studying this idea, as well. I'm leaning less to Microsoft solutions and more to Apple or open source items as they have standards that, while not perfect, can be modified to do the job. I think the solution lies in part with Microsoft Entourage or Mail (which can use Exchange servers that have IMAP support activated), iCal, Address Book (which handles vCal cards), and iSync.
      • Mac Outlook is TERRIBLE! It doesn't do html mail correctly, the rules are crippled compared to the windows version, etc etc. It seems like microsoft just cobbled it together to stop mac people from complaining about the lack of an outlook client. I am a recent switcher from the pc world, and outlook is pretty much the only application I prefer to use in windows. Entourage is a good program - I don't get why the same people who wrote that can't write a decent outlook client. Probably for nefarious anti-competitive reasons :-P I'd like to start using Mail/iCal, but Mail won't see the subfolders in my inbox. I don't know whether that is apple's fault or a quirk of the exchange server.

        That said, I am quite happy with my decision to switch. The only major problems I had is with third party software that I'm stuck with because of my university's infrastructure - namley exchange mail and novell. The novell client for OS X is pretty awful. They're working on it, but it's really in beta shape, even though they call is a 1.0 release. If our windows-centric IT people would just put native file access on there, then it wouldn't matter. And that damn cisco vpn client for os x - I can' even get that stupid thing to install. But that's because the install script was written by the same unix-ignorant boneheads who do everything they can to avoid providing tech support to non-windows users. (really - IT guys who don't know anything about unix - what's up with that?) ok my rant is over now. I just wish our IT people would acknowlege that not everyone wants to use windows 2000.
    • It runs in OS X fine, just not as a carbon or cocoa app. I use Outlook 2001 all the time via Classic. I occasionally need to get to the address book, Public Folders, and calendars. It used to be kinda flakey in classic. Outlook would just hang up on me intermittently but 10.1.5 seemed to solve that for me.

      since we are on the topic of exchange and Mac OS X. has anyone successfully configured the Jaguar address book to use LDAP to access the Exchange Address book? if so care to share the details? I just installed Jaguar and I'm still getting settled in. That would be one less thing to rely on Outlook for.

  • Outlook for OS 9 (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    You'll have to run Outlook:mac in classic. I've done it, works perfectly then connect to the server at fusion using this. It will get all your calender, address, email, everything. Just another outlook client. as for a osx one don't know if or when.

    got here
    http://www.microsoft.com/mac/download/defaul t.asp? navindex=s10#Outlook
    • Outlook:mac does a lot, but definitely not everything. Right now, it is impossible to use a custom form attached to a public folder in Outlook:mac. That functionality is Windows-only. I wish it weren't, because I have some enterprise systems that depend on them.
  • it's not a method of synching your laptop but you can have a VNC like (better even) connection to your system at work... and using a nice ssh tunnel you can do it securly from anywhere in the world.

    we still need a damn os x outlook client

    fucking MS assholes... well they won't have a choice when apple stops booting into os9 hehe

  • very true (Score:1, Funny)

    by onShore_Jake ( 80260 )
    My one major problem is thus -- currently, I'm a heavy Outlook user on my two Windows boxes. I use Outlook to manage my email, my contacts, my tasks, my calendar, etc.

    You are right. That is one MAJOR PROBLEM. You better fix that right away.

  • What about the creation of an iCal program for the PC that sync's with .Mac's cal and address book. This would allow you to use the .Mac as your "source" and all the others would sync with it.

    I don't know whether anyone has tried this, or is working on this, but it could be quite nice.

    In addition to support for Windows, if it were done in a modular manner (and even if just the protocols were made open), you could create a version for Linux and any other platform.
    • We'll have to see what iSync brings to the mix but currently iCal can "Publish & Subscribe" to calendars using .Mac or any WebDAV server for the publishing part. Outlook for Windows (2000 and newer I think) also has a calendar publishing feature which I believe uses a compatible format. However this will not lead to synchronizing because I think the published calendars will be treated as someone else's calendar, even if you were the one publishing from the other machine.

      I believe the file format used when publishing is open so writing a client to publish and subscribe to them should be doable. I would expect to see this added to Evolution if there's demand for it.

  • Palm as lowest common denominator (Score:3, Informative)

    by Niherlas ( 171927 ) on Wednesday September 11, 2002 @12:45AM (#4235076) Homepage
    (Ignoring the religion and focusing on solutions...)

    You have two seperate problems

    Email is one. For that, you want to get your arse on an IMAP server. This will allow your mail to "live" on the server (with only a local cache on the various boxes choose to log into). Heck, moving your email to IMAP will even allow you to install SquirrelMail on an apache/php system someplace, configure it to connect to your IMAP server, and then you even have web-based email.

    Contacts/ToDo/Calendar is another problem.

    iCal is, frighteningly enough, among the first major-publisher apps to use "standards based" file formats (in iCal's case, it's the iCalendar format). Outlook XP and Entourage v.X use MS-proprietary file formats. There is no way to easily transfer data *directly* between the apps. They may both bear the MS name, but the development teams are adequately siloed that they may as well be entirely different products.

    As as previous poster mentioned, your best bet to go between Outlook XP and Entourage is going to be a Palm-based PDA (Palm, Handspring, Clie) with an Outlook conduit on the PC side. That will take care of your to-do, contacts, and calendar between those two apps.

    Later, when iSync comes along, that same Palm will be able to sync your XP data with the Jaguar-internal apps: AddressBook and iCal.

    That is, I'm afraid, the best option available for you. Chances are great that you can find an old Visor dirt-cheap on eBay (a used Handspring Visor will be your cheapest USB-based Palm solution.) Your serial number will get you the Handpring PC download with the Outlook conduit.

    Best of luck!
    • I'm currently in the same boat, I started using outlook and now i can't seem to get my messages to export to anything. Corel's client claims compatibilty to import outlook messages. I have a cd coming and am going to give it a shot. Anyone else tried using corels email app to do this?
  • I did it this way:
    Windows + Outlook + fusionOne + T39
    Sync T39 with Outlook
    (If your phone doesn't have BT then replace the following with IR instead of BT)
    Get Bluetooth for Mac
    Get MobileSync (http://homepage.mac.com/jonassalling/Shareware - Excellent software!)
    Sync Mac with Phone.
    Yay I have a subset of my calendar.
    (I also imported this stuff into iCal)

    Just please eveyone log with fusionOne that you want a MacOSX client! It is excellent software. (http://www.fusionOne.com/)

    • fusionOne did have a great solution which never quite made it past beta in terms of quality or useability. Macintosh support was consistently the most requested feature. Don't hold your breath, though...

      fusionOne switched its business focus from consumers to carriers over a year ago and shifted from a sizeable, talented Silicon Valley-based development organization to a group of relatively inexperienced (but dirt-cheap) Estonian windows hacks. It's desperation time there now, as I understand it.

  • "Exporting" Outlook calendar and contact info (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    There isn't an easy way to export all contacts or calendar information from Outlook for whatever reason. Here's what I did and it works fine.

    1) Create a share on your Windows box called "Calenar" or whatever
    2) Launch Outlook and go to the Calendar
    3) Open an appointment or event and go File->Save As...
    4) Give the file a name and select iCalendar as the file type.
    5) Repeat for any and all events you need transferred.
    Note: For reoccuring events or series make sure when opening the event check the "Open the series" button. Then all occurances of the event will transfer.

    Now on the Mac
    1) On the Menu Bar in the Finder select Go->Connect to Server...
    2) Either Browse to your computer or enter the address (smb://computername.domain/Calendar) and enter your username/password
    3) Launch iCal and go File->Import
    4) Navigate to the Calendar share mounted on your computer and open the calendar file
    5) This will import the event to whatever calendar you have selected in iCal (ie Home, Work, whatever)
    6) Repeat

    The same proceedure works for the Contacts. Just save the file as vCal and throw it into the same share and use Address Book to import the data.

    Use Mail App or whatever to connect via POP to your Exchange Server. Have fun with that Mac!

    SeoulBrother
    • Now SeoulBrother, I have just about the same problem with two major exceptions: 1. it is win 2000 pro I am using 2. the problems is I have no access to my win database from the Linux Mandrake 7.3 I have had installed If I could get some help with this I shall very much appreciate it. thanks!
  • I'd hate to sound like a corporate thug - but you could try paying for some software that works both on Mac and Windows.

    Lotus Notes can be installed on both Mac and Windows as a email/contacts/tasks/calendar client. There are programs out their that will sync Lotus Notes data with the PDA/phone/whatever of your choice. Lotus Domino (the Notes server) can be run on Windows 2000 Server or if you're short on cash Linux!

    Like Apple's iCal, Lotus Notes is iCalendar compliant.

    Go grab the latest Release Candidates from http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/down.nsf

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