The Address Book and iCal programs included with Mac OS X are nonrational , easy - to - use personal productivity apps — but both stress “ personal ” over “ productiveness . ” Business - oriented alternatives , such as Now Software ’s Now Up - to - Date & Contact ( ) and Microsoft Entourage ( part of the Office 2004 rooms ) , lease co - workers share calendars and contact lists , but they sacrifice the restraint and familiarity of Apple ’s built - in programs , as well as the tight integration with Mail , .Mac , and other organization - broad resources . SOHO Organizer 5.5.2 aim at providing the best of both approaches . It outfit iCal and Address Book with an enhanced server - based database that enables collaborative sharing of contacts and calendars , plus flexible linking of engagement and contact with projection - concern files , eminence , and other papers .
The SOHO Organizer retinue from Chronos consist of three linked applications : SOHO Organizer , SOHO Notes , and SOHO Print Essentials . When you install them on your Mac , the program divvy up datum with each other , as well as with Apple ’s iCal and Address Book . All three programs apportion a database on your Mac , which backs itself up mechanically and can be synchronized via .Mac . The suite ’s substantial collaborative value comes into free rein when you localise up one or more apportion databases on your web — a somewhat straightforward routine that would be even simpler if the Organizer cortege ’s documentation explained how to open ports in the Mac OS ten firewall . Once you ’ve gear up up a database on a server Mac , you must set up an story ( with read / write or read - only access privileges ) for each drug user of Organizer and Notes .
A mobile user can take a share invoice offline , which create a transcript of the waiter database on their hard driving force and syncs its content with the server when they lumber back in . This arrangement works well , but users who forget to take a shared database offline will have to wait for Organizer and Notes to clock out their waiter request before the programs can be used on the route .
The Organizer app actually combines two freestanding applications that previous version of the suite include : SOHO Contacts and SOHO Calendars . The integrated app creates an enhanced version of Apple ’s Address Book , and has a very similar look - and - sense . It features a datebook - manner appointment and task director that links with iCal , but does n’t fully replace it .
SOHO Notes is a chemical group - sharing successor to Chronos ’s highly view StickyBrain program program ( ) , a unique tool that lets you corral project - related information — contacts , appointments , to - dos , documents , reminder short letter , effigy , even SMS ( Short Message Service ) text messages — into folder .
SOHO Organizer lets you crop and redact contacts in lean and exclusive - entry views , and it support a dandy number of fields than Address Book . It lets you connect project Indian file , keywords , calendar appointments , and other contacts to each entrance and lets you demonstrate family relationship links between members of a club , employee of a special company , or any other connectedness you opt .
The calendar function provides list- and single - day views of date and task . A panorama - natural selection pop - up promises Week and Month views as well , but choose either of them reveals a “ Coming Soon ” varlet equip with a button that launches iCal in week or month vista . ( The company state week and month thought are in the works , but they could not be completed in time for cellular inclusion in Organizer 5.5.2 . )
SOHO Print Essentials is also provide with this megabucks of applications , and it can be useful for generating form letter , post circuit board , address labels , or usage gasbag ( including stripe - cipher ZIP codes ) from tilt in SOHO Contacts . Print Essentials suffer a huge regalia of address - recording label types ; however , its backup for VHS tape and 3.5 - inch diskette labels — but not CD and DVD labels — hint that this broadcast is overdue for an update .
Macworld’s buying advice
SOHO Organizer 5.5.2 subdue patched certification and a clumsy calendar interface , providing utilitarian shared calendar and contacts , contact - management features that elegantly protract Address Book ’s capabilities , and versatile linking of project - related files and notes . It ’s a good choice for small - business drug user who need a simple information - sharing creature , and it ’s easy to read for users already well-to-do with iCal and Address Book .
[ Jim Akin is a engineering science writer and editor based in Minneapolis . ]
