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View Full Version : Alternative to Outlook - Time & Chaos


Ed Hansberry
04-01-2002, 02:07 PM
<a href="http://www.isbister.com/chaos32.html">http://www.isbister.com/chaos32.html</a><br /><br />I used Time & Chaos many years ago on my Windows 3.1 system. It was a great app and iSBiSTER had great support. I had forgotten all about it until I saw a post on it in the newsgroup. Guess what? They have a Pocket PC sync plugin. :-)<br /><br /><img src="http://www.isbister.com/images/tc-logo-b.gif" /><br /><br />So, if Outlook isn't your cup of tea, give Time & Chaos a shot. They have a fully functional trial version available for download.

rix
04-01-2002, 06:06 PM
I agree that T&C on the PC is a great PIM (once you are past the learning curve), users should be aware of an issue the sync program has:

From the isbister website

>3. Repeating or Reoccurring Events When repeating or reoccurring
>events are added to Time &
>Chaos, T&C will copy your item to make individual entries on
>each date out into the future. This ensures that our Contact
>History feature will be able to show you each specific item
>along with the details specific to that occurrence. The PocketPC does
>not store recurring events in the same
>manner as Time &*Chaos. The PocketPC only stores one actual
>item and does not physically copy the item to future dates.
>As a result, if you entered reoccurring items in the
>PocketPC, only the original item will be transferred to
>Time &*Chaos, not the repeats. On the other hand, any items
>entered or modified in Time &*Chaos with repeat options be
>stored in both locations and will show up properly when you
>sync with your PocketPC.

This can create huge numbers of appt's on your PPC, not to mention making managing repeats on the PPC (eg. when on the road) a real pain.

Overal Chaos-sync does a fair job, but the less than optimal handling of repeats, is a real negative in my book.

my .02

Rich

rix
04-01-2002, 06:08 PM
Oh, one other thing...

The large number of appt's you get as a result of Chaos entering them as single appt's, makes the sync process slower.

Rich

burmashave
04-02-2002, 01:01 AM
I have been using T&C for about a month now, and so far I have found only two annoyances. The difference in handling repeating appointments is a problem as mentioned above. To work around it, it seems best to create any repeating appointments on the desktop. Annoyance number two regards the lack of automatic PPC synchronization; the user must initiate desktop PPC sync.

On the other hand, I have been very happy with T&C and the PPC conduit. I purchased it and the PPC conduit because I had totally given up on ever getting consistent and stable synchronization to Outlook. T&C syncs well with PPC because it synchronizes directly with the databases -- skipping the Outlook connection altogether. T&C itself is worth the price; however, I'm sure that most PPC users would feel that the PPC conduit is overpriced.