By James Rogers
As all of us longtime Windows CE users know, the search for top-notch applications has been like roaming through a desert. While you might come across the occasional oasis, for the most part there's nothing but sand and a lot of hot air. We have had to sit by and look enviously at all those Palm device users, with their devoted developers and tons of software running on a meager 20 Mhz. However, thanks to the fact Microsoft is finally listening to consumers and developers and providing a better platform, the appearance of quality software is now a much more frequent occurrence.
Developer One Software is one of the companies championing the cause of the Pocket PC. They were right there at the launch of the Pocket PC with some great tailor made applications, and they have continued releasing great software in the months since.
Their newest creation is the calendar and task viewer program, Agenda Today, found at http://www.developerone.com/pocketpc/agendatoday/. It provides a more useful seven-day calendar view, as well as a more functional Today screen overview of appointments and tasks. Buried underneath that surface, however, is one of the most powerful and feature-packed programs in the Pocket PC stable. The contest for the "killer app" just got a promising new contestant! Let's take a look under the hood of this beauty, starting with the installation and initial set-up.
Installation and set-up
Like most commercially available Pocket PC software, the installation process is fairly simple and painless. Double clicking the setup file will prompt you to either view the users' guide (which is in Adobe's PDF Acrobat Reader format) or continue with the installation process. After either browsing the users' guide or selecting "No" to skip right to the installation, you're brought to the dialog boxes that will lead you through the setup process.
The only thing out of the ordinary is a screen that'll ask you whether to install the main Agenda Today program, the Today Plug-In, or both. If you choose to install both components, be aware that the Pocket PC will go through two separate installation routines. Developer One has just recently released a new upgrade that adds one extra step to the setup process. After completely installing the original program, you must run another setup routine to install the upgrade. I expect Developer One will soon release this program with all the components included in one package.
Once the setup is complete, the program is ready to go. If you're simply looking for a way to view your entire week at a glance, you've got it right out of the box, so to speak. If you're looking for a more powerful way to view your daily schedule and tasks from the Today screen, once again, you've got it. This ease is part of the beauty of Agenda Today and is one of the reasons it has totally won me over. It has a ton of features, but if you don't want all of them, they don't get in the way. For the power-user, however, it can do just about anything you can think of. It can be exactly what you want it to be. With that said, let's take a look at the 7-day agenda manager and all of its features.
