So, what does this mean to the average Mac owning Palm handheld user? Well, if you create an un-timed event called "Pay Day" on your Palm handheld that repeats every two weeks, you'll get an error like this when you HotSync the next time:

"Palm Desktop does not support untimed events of the type held by 'Pay Day' on July 20, 2000."

You'll get a similar error if you try to set an end date for any repeating un-timed events as well. The first time I got an error like this, I thought, "There must be some mistake; why won't Palm's desktop software recognize this appointment that I made on my Palm handheld?" You know what? I still think that's a good question. But I'm hoping that by later this year I won't have to ask it any more.

2. Support for Private items
The next item on my list deals with one of the most disturbing omissions from Palm Desktop for Macintosh--items marked as "Private" on your Palm handheld are not protected in the desktop program. True, the "Private" tag remains untouched on the handheld during normal HotSync operations, but should you need to HotSync using the "Macintosh Overwrites Handheld" option, you'll want to take a few minutes to "reprivatize" the applicable items.

At the very least, I'd like to be able to label items as private in Palm Desktop for Macintosh, but full support for the show, masked, or hidden viewing options would be fantastic.

3. Email conduit
When Palm support for the Macintosh first debuted, it made perfect sense that some of the less vital features were missing. After all, Mac owners only comprised a small percentage of Palm's user base; sound business practices dictated that the company provide just the basics. Then, if warranted, at a later date additional features could be ported.

However, circumstances have certainly changed, and I think it's high time that Palm offered an email conduit as a part of Palm Desktop for Macintosh.

It's been almost a year since Palm, Inc. purchased Actual Software and their highly versatile MultiMail package, which included a powerful Macintosh email conduit. Hopefully, the next release of Palm Desktop for Macintosh will include a "lite" version of this conduit that will allow basic synchronization with the handheld Mail application.

4. Expense conduit
An expense conduit should be easy to come by as well. Shana Corporation, the makers of the recently discontinued Informed Filer Palm expense conduit for Windows and Macintosh, just so happen to have an orphaned Mac conduit and desktop application that Palm could likely pick up for a great price. The whole thing could be vaguely reminiscent of the deal made with Apple several years ago when Claris Organizer joined the Palm family.

5. One-click handheld note attachment
On your Palm handheld and in Palm Desktop for Windows, attaching a note to an Appointment, To Do list item, or Address Book entry is a simple matter. It is not so in Palm Desktop for Macintosh. In fact, attaching notes is a complex enough process that most Mac users simply do their note attaching on their Palm handhelds.