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iCal 1.5.2 Released

Posted by pudge on from the i-am-waiting-for-iLife-04.1 dept.

cigaar writes "iCal 1.5.2 has been released by Apple. You can download it through Software Update. From iCal's Help page: 'iCal 1.5.2 gives you the option of viewing your calendar, event, or To Do information in a drawer or in a separate window (using the Detach Info command in the Window menu), and includes improved alarm performance and other reliability enhancements.'"

14 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. I prefer no drawers :) by JHromadka · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Thank goodness that Apple made it an option to use the drawer input style or a separate window for appointment editing. Even on my Powerbook's widescreen, it seemed to take up too much room.

    --
    "The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved." -- John Ashcroft
    1. Re:I prefer no drawers :) by rlowe69 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I second that. I have a 12" iBook screen. :P heh

      Even though it's 1024x768 that drawer was a serious waste of horizontal real estate. Enough people bitched about it that it got fixed in a few months. The feedback cycle is working, us Mac users should use it to our advantage to make the products that much better.

      --
      ----- rL
    2. Re:I prefer no drawers :) by thatguywhoiam · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Even though it's 1024x768 that drawer was a serious waste of horizontal real estate.

      It's your perception. I only point this out because this is the classic Macintosh interface tempest in a teapot.

      The new detachable Info windoid is exactly 10 pixels smaller, in its smallest width, than the drawer was. It can get much shorter than the drawer, but that does not make it more functional, in this instance. Safe to say, both drawer and windoid constructs basically take up the same amount of room.

      Now, you could make an argument that having the detachable window is better for screen 'real estate' as you can leave just a little piece of it visible, behind the iCal main window, and click it to bring it forward. But you could have also say there's nothing stopping you from just shoving the drawer portion off-screen as well.

      For myself, I think I prefer the drawer. I'm used to being able to see my event Info (in month view) when iCal is in the background - now I can't, because an app not in the foreground on OS X will make its support windoids disappear. There are always trade-offs.

      In the rare case where neither one is demonstrably better, a choice is good, and its nice that Apple is listening.

      --
      If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
    3. Re:I prefer no drawers :) by djupedal · · Score: 4, Insightful
      But of course...

      It's your perception.

      Perception is integral to the use of any GUI.

      I believe the key is an individual's dependence (or lack thereof) on various perceived elements, that is really at work.

    4. Re:I prefer no drawers :) by thatguywhoiam · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Perception is integral to the use of any GUI....I believe the key is an individual's dependence (or lack thereof) on various perceived elements, that is really at work.

      I completely agree with this statement. I only point out that one's impression of a certain UI implementation as wrong doesn't necessarily make it so. Sometimes a method is demonstrably inferior. In this case, there are strong points for both drawer and windoid methods, and a strong split amongst the userbase as to which is appropriate -- the correct thing for Apple to do is to offer a choice. Which is of course what they did.

      I find that often a UI method is strongly preferred by a user if it is the first way they have been exposed to. Alt-tab switching is a good example, or the endless vi vs. emacs debates.

      --
      If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
  2. At least there's one thing it fixes ... by pvera · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The iCal notifications got broken when I upgraded to Panther. This patch seems to have fixed the issue. I rember I went as far as emailing Apple to tell them about it, but no feedback whatsoever. I guess somebody was listening :-)

    --
    Pedro
    ----
    The Insomniac Coder
    1. Re:At least there's one thing it fixes ... by beelsebob · · Score: 5, Informative
      Don't e-mail apple, send them a bug report

      Apple bugreporter

      Bob

  3. Re:Right... by georgewad · · Score: 5, Informative

    how about this

    --
    Karma: It's not just a good idea. It's the law.
  4. Two-way calendar sync by David+McBride · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've been playing with iCal and WEB-DAV servers recently for work, and I really like iCal. But one thing I discovered today is that the synchronization doesn't run both ways -- a subscribed can't updated a calendar that someone else has published.

    Which is a shame, because it would be a lot better than the ad-hoc mechanisms I've got right now.

  5. Detaching Drawers! by Steveftoth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple should make detaching a drawer part of the OS! For those of you that like drawers, great, but some people like them to be floating. They are first class windows to the OS so it would be possible without re-writing the drawer code.

    Well, maybe on second though they should rather create a sub-class of drawer that is detachable and thus all FUTURE drawers could be detachable.

  6. Re:I can read my Software Update window, thanks. by FosterKanig · · Score: 5, Funny

    Turning "water into wine" is planned for OS 10.4. I can't wait, but of course "walking on water" will require a .Mac subscription.

  7. Here, here. by waldoj · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've been playing with iCal and WEB-DAV servers recently for work, and I really like iCal. But one thing I discovered today is that the synchronization doesn't run both ways -- a subscribed can't updated a calendar that someone else has published.

    This is a real problem for me, and I'm glad to hear somebody else mention it.

    I spend 90% of my computing time on my PowerMac desktop. About 8% (I'm plainly talking out of my ass here) is spent on my iBook, and 2% on other people's computers (friends, computer labs on my college campus, etc.) I use iCal on my PowerMac as the master calendar, and I publish that calendar to my server via WebDAV. I subscribe to that calendar in iCal on my iBook, and I use WebCalendar to reproduce my calendar on my website. I also sync my Palm and my phone with my desktop regularly, such that I can maintain my calendar on those. This system is really helpful, because I have such a scheduled, busy life that I really couldn't function without a decent calendar system.

    The problem, of course, is that I can only make changes when I'm sitting at my desktop. Changes on my Palm or phone are overwritten next time that I sync. (iSync's valiant efforts notwithstanding.) Changes made via the website and are lost, and iCal on my iBook will not permit me to make changes to the calendar, because it's a subscription.

    I want to make changes on my iBook the same way that I can read and reply to e-mail in Mail.app when I'm not on a WiFi network -- it should synch next time that I get a connection. Likewise, I should be able to do so with the website version, my phone, etc.

    The problem here, as best as I can tell, is that the calendar isn't really stored on the WebDAV server -- it's mirrored on the WebDAV server. My PowerMac doesn't get its data from the WebDAV server, it simply publishes it to that server. I want iCal to use the WebDAV server just like Mail.app uses IMAP -- the server is master, and all else synchs to it.

    I'd sure appreciate suggestions or tips from anybody that can suggest a solution to this, or some sort of a hack that's available for iCal to make it work in this manner.

    -Waldo Jaquith

  8. Re:You're Correct by gt384u · · Score: 5, Informative

    It does handle calendar syncing, using your handy .Mac account.

    Just make sure to always sync with your .Mac account on beginning your session and then again on ending and you're golden. I guess it does kind of suck having to shell out the $100/yr for those little things after already having spent the extra money for the Mac, but it seems most users are resigned to it at this point. On the upside, it is a damn nice service you're getting for that money.

  9. DotMac by slashusrslashbin · · Score: 5, Informative

    This kind of two-way synchronization is what you pay top-$$$ for .Mac for; and it works.

    I keep up to three Macs and my Sony Ericsson T68i synced up this way, and it works fine (Bookmarks, Calendar, Address Book). I can enter new events, new bookmarks etc. on .Mac when I'm at work on a PC, and retrieve them through iSync when I get back home.

    The WebDAV iCal publishing thing is only one-way, and will remain one-way because Apple want you to buy .Mac ...