Scheduling appointments in either program is a simple "click and type" procedure. However, Outlook offers several additional features, such as the Appointment window pictured in Figure D.

FIGURE D

Outlook's Appointment window gives you everything you need to schedule a great meeting. Click picture for a larger image.

As with Palm Desktop's Edit Event dialog box, shown in Figure E, you can change an event's name, its start and end times, set an alarm, or schedule repeating appointments in Outlook's Appointment window.

FIGURE E

Date Book's Edit Event window allows you to make basic changes to your appointments. Click picture for a larger image.

However, Outlook's advantages become clear when you select the Attendee Availability tab. Here you can specify which coworkers need to be in attendance. Then, with a single click, you can invite them. Likewise, when someone sends you an invitation to a meeting, simply accepting it places the meeting on your calendar, ready to synchronize with your Palm device.

Unlike the Date Book, Outlook also reminds you of upcoming events, as shown in Figure F.

FIGURE F

Outlook's Appointment Reminder is always there to make sure you get where you need to be on time. Click picture for a larger image.

While this may seem redundant, I find it's much easier to glance at my monitor than to pull my Palm device out of my pocket every time it beeps. Besides, if I've attached a note with a list of things I need to bring to a meeting, it's infinitely more convenient to select the Open Item button and view my note. Also, if you're not using Palm OS 3.5, Outlook's snooze button is a nice feature, too.

Outlook also allows you to export your monthly schedule to HTML, which is a convenient way to share your monthly schedule with coworkers.

Without a doubt, I like Outlook Calendar much better than Date Book. It offers everything that Palm Desktop's Date Book does, with many additional and useful features.

Verdict: Outlook Calendar wins by a landslide.

Outlook Contacts vs. Address Book
The Contacts module seems to offer many of the same advantages over the Address Book that the Calendar had over the Date Book. However, this contest is much more evenly matched.

Perhaps it's only a matter of personal preference, but I think the Palm Desktop's Address Book view, pictured in Figure G, is much easier to use than any of the views offered by Outlook.

FIGURE G

The Palm Desktop's Address Book view offers easy one-stop access to your contacts. Click picture for a larger image.

On the left, every person in the Address Book is listed. The preview window on the right gives you easy access to all the information for the selected person.

On the other hand, Outlook's list view, as seen in Figure H, allows you to sort your contacts by a number of differing criteria. However, to see all the contact information you'll need to open the contact.

FIGURE H

Outlook Contacts' list view feels cumbersome. Click picture for a larger image.

The address card view, shown in Figure I, offers an easy-to-view list of the primary information for each contact, but you can only sort alphabetically.

FIGURE I

Outlook Contacts' address card view is easy to read but a bit awkward to navigate. Click picture for a larger image.