Sneak(y) peek at the new DateBk6

Bob Russell · 02-27-2006, 10:53 PM

Okay, first of all I have to admit this is unauthorized. It's simply some information from a snoopy reporter who was curious about DateBk6 (because I love the DateBk program), and happened upon some draft web pages that are worth sharing. Well, okay, I admit that I didn't just "happen" upon them. I started guessing URLs and got lucky. And I also have to admit that I was too lazy to contact the developer directly (a really nice guy, by the way) to confirm any of this info, or look into the Yahoo Groups forum for beta testers. So what I'm about to share may or may not be close to final form.

Here's the basic scoop... Version 6 has been out in beta form for a while, and the web pages look like they are just about ready to go. There is a payment page, upgrade page, new features page, product main page, etc. Looks like prices stay very reasonable at <$30 purchase and <$15 upgrade.

If you want to see all the good info, here's a great page to start with...
http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/datebk6.htm

It will lead you to just about all the info. It will probably become one of the main Pimlico pages once it's completed.

Let us know what you think if you are one of the beta testers and are allowed to share with us. Or if you are the developer and surprised at all the new web traffic on unpublished pages, then feel free to join us here for some free publicity and to tease us a little with some news about the new release!

djembe1 · 02-27-2006, 11:50 PM

The Datebk6 beta is no deep dark secret. On Yahoo groups, join the "pimlicodatebk" forum. This is the usual support forum for Datebk3/4/5. For the past couple of months, the usual sharing of information about Datebk5 has been drowned out by a flood of comments, as all who want to have been testing the Datebk6 beta. You can find the link for the latest version (pB) back about 5-6 screens in the messages area.

A not insignificant number of us have already purchased our upgrades to DateBk6 (while testing out the screens you found). The new features are great, and as usual, CESD's beta versions are more stable than the competition's production version.

radleyp · 02-28-2006, 12:18 PM

I am so used to learning from your informative posts that I was surprised to find you touting this great "discovery" which, as the post above notes, has been available publicly for some time now. Datebk and CESD, its developer, are fixtures in the Palm community. And yet, though I own Datebk and will purchase the upgrade just to continue owning it, I have never felt it to be ideal for at least two reasons: 1) it imitates the Palm GUI (in an email of long ago, CESD told me he had designed it that way to make it easier for typical Palm users to adapt) which I do not particularly like, and which it makes more cluttered by its add-ons, and 2) more importantly, it adds all kinds of features on the handheld (for example, floating appointments which, of course, are not appointments but tasks that appear on the desktop as appointments) that are not reproducible on the desktop. I use my desktop all the time, and use the handheld when away from it, but not while I am at it: I want the two to be in perfect synchrony, and this is impossible with Datebk. Philippe Radley

Bob Russell · 02-28-2006, 01:43 PM

Sorry if this post disappointed some of you! But I do appreciate the feedback.

In the end, I think the problem is probably that I did not explain myself very well at all in the original post. I am aware of the Yahoo group and the beta testing that's been going on.

Really, all I was trying to say was that I wanted to share those pages that are not yet publicly released on Pimlico's main web site. They were very interesting to me, and I felt (maybe wrongly!) that other people would be interested to look at them also.

Oh well... win some, lose some.

djembe1 · 02-28-2006, 11:41 PM

Unlike radleyp, I am not disappointed in your post. From your original post, I believed you were unaware of the Yahoo group. I was just trying to illuminate further (for you and others reading the thread). After all, you asked for comments from any beta testers. As one of probably hundreds, I certainly don't feel "special", and I wanted to make sure you knew you could be one as well.

mike d

Bob Russell · 03-01-2006, 06:17 AM

Thanks Mike! And also for the info about the new features being good, and that beta testers are already buying the upgrade. It's a great sign.

I am really looking forward to joining those of you that are using the beta versions, but only after it goes to final release versions. I'm quite risk-averse when it comes to my calendar data! So I'm all the more glad to hear that it's already stable. That's one of the most important things to me in new software I'm considering, because I rely so much on my device.

radleyp · 03-01-2006, 11:18 AM

Do you use Datebk now? I am sorry that you reacted to what you perceived as criticism on my part - none was intended, as I think your contributions are wonderfully valuable - instead of my comments about Datebk, a wonderful program I have never been able to embrace wholeheartedly. It seems to me that it is the ideal program for someone who uses the handheld as a primary datakeeper, but not for those, like me, who do most of their data entry on a desktop (a/k/a laptop). Do you use your desktop a lot? It's one thing to have add-ons (a special email client, a weather forecast) on the handheld, but quite another to add fields that are not reproduced on both machines (such as a float, or a birthday field). The beauty of a Palm for me is its ability to give me exactly the data that is on my desktop. Philippe Radley

Bob Russell · 03-01-2006, 01:04 PM

Thks Phillipe. No problem. And I can certainly understand different preferences about programs because not every application is the best choice for everyone. As you guessed, I don't use Palm desktop anymore, and do my basic PIM syncing with Outlook. Mostly because I moved all my data to Outlook while I was using a Pocket PC before I got a Treo. I like the Palm desktop calendar better, but I want to be able to sync across PPC and PalmOS very easily.

I don't use any of the addins, and probably won't install any because I like to keep things generic. Not for the desktop but because I try not to get too locked in to any one platform. Last time I switched from PalmOS to PPC, it was a nightmare. Not because the platform switch was a big deal, but because of the incredible amount of data and software that had to be moved and I had to re-figure out how to set it all up. Now it's pretty much platform independent so I won't have to repeat that nightmare if I switch back.

I think some other people also don't really like DateBk because it isn't exactly the prettiest GUI and can be a little hard to use the advanced features. I only use a handful of the DateBk features like Daily Journal (although I may give DayNotez a try one of these days), appointments at 1min intervals, better repeating appts and alarms, the great weekly view, nice icons and formats, etc. so it's not a big deal for me, but just those simple things make all the difference and it's probably my most-used application so it's perfect for me.

I think the diversity of opinions is great, and there will be plenty of people in multiple camps.. DateBk, other 3rd party solutions, and plain vanilla PalmOS datebook. That's a good thing!

djembe1 · 03-01-2006, 02:02 PM

Phillipe,

My Palm IS my master calendar, and the Palm desktop only is used to copy and paste things between the palm memos and a PC program. I went from a Daytimer to Time Systems (later absorbed into Franklin) to a Palm m505. I can't see the need for a calendar (and a bunch of other computer-related things), if I can't have them with me. And though I use a laptop from time to time, it just doesn't cut it as a place to find an address, or an available time slot in a hurry.

When I worked at a company with a corporate calendar system, I was fortunate enough that my meeting requirements were either repetitive, or light enough that I didn't mind entering them into my Palm. Plus, most of the time I was being invited to a meeting, so I seldom had to enter anything twice.

But if your PC calendar (of whatever flavor) was your master calendar, I could certainly see where some of the enhancements brought by Datebk3/4/5/6 would be a nuisance, and the ease of use enhancements actually wouldn't even be available. It's why for years customers have been badgering CESD to write a desktop version. BTW, birthdays are now in the desktop (though I don't use them).

BobR,

I am also very risk-averse when it comes to my calendar data. But I hadn't been to the Yahoo group in a while, so I came in in the middle of the beta "frenzy". I could see that none of the problems people were having had any effect on data integrity - they were mostly usability or cosmetic issues (mostly in features I didn't use, or in something new, like the "Today" screen). I wiped some of my DateBk preferences once in order to help determine the existence of an issue on a TX, but that was my choice. I've been nothing but happy about the new features and changes.

mike d

02-27-2006, 10:53 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Sneak(y) peek at the new DateBk6 Okay, first of all I have to admit this is unauthorized. It's simply some information from a snoopy reporter who was curious about DateBk6 (because I love the DateBk program), and happened upon some draft web pages that are worth sharing. Well, okay, I admit that I didn't just "happen" upon them. I started guessing URLs and got lucky. And I also have to admit that I was too lazy to contact the developer directly (a really nice guy, by the way) to confirm any of this info, or look into the Yahoo Groups forum for beta testers. So what I'm about to share may or may not be close to final form. Here's the basic scoop... Version 6 has been out in beta form for a while, and the web pages look like they are just about ready to go. There is a payment page, upgrade page, new features page, product main page, etc. Looks like prices stay very reasonable at <$30 purchase and <$15 upgrade. If you want to see all the good info, here's a great page to start with... http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/datebk6.htm It will lead you to just about all the info. It will probably become one of the main Pimlico pages once it's completed. Let us know what you think if you are one of the beta testers and are allowed to share with us. Or if you are the developer and surprised at all the new web traffic on unpublished pages, then feel free to join us here for some free publicity and to tease us a little with some news about the new release!

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02-27-2006, 11:50 PM	#2
djembe1 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2006 Device: Palm TX	The Datebk6 beta is no deep dark secret. On Yahoo groups, join the "pimlicodatebk" forum. This is the usual support forum for Datebk3/4/5. For the past couple of months, the usual sharing of information about Datebk5 has been drowned out by a flood of comments, as all who want to have been testing the Datebk6 beta. You can find the link for the latest version (pB) back about 5-6 screens in the messages area. A not insignificant number of us have already purchased our upgrades to DateBk6 (while testing out the screens you found). The new features are great, and as usual, CESD's beta versions are more stable than the competition's production version.

02-28-2006, 12:18 PM	#3
radleyp Evangelist Posts: 499 Karma: 20623 Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: North Salem & NYC, NY Device: Kindle Global, iphone4, ipad	I am so used to learning from your informative posts that I was surprised to find you touting this great "discovery" which, as the post above notes, has been available publicly for some time now. Datebk and CESD, its developer, are fixtures in the Palm community. And yet, though I own Datebk and will purchase the upgrade just to continue owning it, I have never felt it to be ideal for at least two reasons: 1) it imitates the Palm GUI (in an email of long ago, CESD told me he had designed it that way to make it easier for typical Palm users to adapt) which I do not particularly like, and which it makes more cluttered by its add-ons, and 2) more importantly, it adds all kinds of features on the handheld (for example, floating appointments which, of course, are not appointments but tasks that appear on the desktop as appointments) that are not reproducible on the desktop. I use my desktop all the time, and use the handheld when away from it, but not while I am at it: I want the two to be in perfect synchrony, and this is impossible with Datebk. Philippe Radley

02-28-2006, 01:43 PM	#4
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Sorry if this post disappointed some of you! But I do appreciate the feedback. In the end, I think the problem is probably that I did not explain myself very well at all in the original post. I am aware of the Yahoo group and the beta testing that's been going on. Really, all I was trying to say was that I wanted to share those pages that are not yet publicly released on Pimlico's main web site. They were very interesting to me, and I felt (maybe wrongly!) that other people would be interested to look at them also. Oh well... win some, lose some.

02-28-2006, 11:41 PM	#5
djembe1 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2006 Device: Palm TX	Unlike radleyp, I am not disappointed in your post. From your original post, I believed you were unaware of the Yahoo group. I was just trying to illuminate further (for you and others reading the thread). After all, you asked for comments from any beta testers. As one of probably hundreds, I certainly don't feel "special", and I wanted to make sure you knew you could be one as well. mike d

03-01-2006, 06:17 AM	#6
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Thanks Mike! And also for the info about the new features being good, and that beta testers are already buying the upgrade. It's a great sign. I am really looking forward to joining those of you that are using the beta versions, but only after it goes to final release versions. I'm quite risk-averse when it comes to my calendar data! So I'm all the more glad to hear that it's already stable. That's one of the most important things to me in new software I'm considering, because I rely so much on my device.

03-01-2006, 11:18 AM	#7
radleyp Evangelist Posts: 499 Karma: 20623 Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: North Salem & NYC, NY Device: Kindle Global, iphone4, ipad	Do you use Datebk now? I am sorry that you reacted to what you perceived as criticism on my part - none was intended, as I think your contributions are wonderfully valuable - instead of my comments about Datebk, a wonderful program I have never been able to embrace wholeheartedly. It seems to me that it is the ideal program for someone who uses the handheld as a primary datakeeper, but not for those, like me, who do most of their data entry on a desktop (a/k/a laptop). Do you use your desktop a lot? It's one thing to have add-ons (a special email client, a weather forecast) on the handheld, but quite another to add fields that are not reproduced on both machines (such as a float, or a birthday field). The beauty of a Palm for me is its ability to give me exactly the data that is on my desktop. Philippe Radley

03-01-2006, 01:04 PM	#8
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Thks Phillipe. No problem. And I can certainly understand different preferences about programs because not every application is the best choice for everyone. As you guessed, I don't use Palm desktop anymore, and do my basic PIM syncing with Outlook. Mostly because I moved all my data to Outlook while I was using a Pocket PC before I got a Treo. I like the Palm desktop calendar better, but I want to be able to sync across PPC and PalmOS very easily. I don't use any of the addins, and probably won't install any because I like to keep things generic. Not for the desktop but because I try not to get too locked in to any one platform. Last time I switched from PalmOS to PPC, it was a nightmare. Not because the platform switch was a big deal, but because of the incredible amount of data and software that had to be moved and I had to re-figure out how to set it all up. Now it's pretty much platform independent so I won't have to repeat that nightmare if I switch back. I think some other people also don't really like DateBk because it isn't exactly the prettiest GUI and can be a little hard to use the advanced features. I only use a handful of the DateBk features like Daily Journal (although I may give DayNotez a try one of these days), appointments at 1min intervals, better repeating appts and alarms, the great weekly view, nice icons and formats, etc. so it's not a big deal for me, but just those simple things make all the difference and it's probably my most-used application so it's perfect for me. I think the diversity of opinions is great, and there will be plenty of people in multiple camps.. DateBk, other 3rd party solutions, and plain vanilla PalmOS datebook. That's a good thing!

03-01-2006, 02:02 PM	#9
djembe1 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2006 Device: Palm TX	Phillipe, My Palm IS my master calendar, and the Palm desktop only is used to copy and paste things between the palm memos and a PC program. I went from a Daytimer to Time Systems (later absorbed into Franklin) to a Palm m505. I can't see the need for a calendar (and a bunch of other computer-related things), if I can't have them with me. And though I use a laptop from time to time, it just doesn't cut it as a place to find an address, or an available time slot in a hurry. When I worked at a company with a corporate calendar system, I was fortunate enough that my meeting requirements were either repetitive, or light enough that I didn't mind entering them into my Palm. Plus, most of the time I was being invited to a meeting, so I seldom had to enter anything twice. But if your PC calendar (of whatever flavor) was your master calendar, I could certainly see where some of the enhancements brought by Datebk3/4/5/6 would be a nuisance, and the ease of use enhancements actually wouldn't even be available. It's why for years customers have been badgering CESD to write a desktop version. BTW, birthdays are now in the desktop (though I don't use them). BobR, I am also very risk-averse when it comes to my calendar data. But I hadn't been to the Yahoo group in a while, so I came in in the middle of the beta "frenzy". I could see that none of the problems people were having had any effect on data integrity - they were mostly usability or cosmetic issues (mostly in features I didn't use, or in something new, like the "Today" screen). I wiped some of my DateBk preferences once in order to help determine the existence of an issue on a TX, but that was my choice. I've been nothing but happy about the new features and changes. mike d

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