Initial installation and setup
Installation is a snap. In no time at all you'll be up and ready to start configuring the numerous settings. However, you'll be offered one intriguing choice during the installation process. Near the end, you'll be asked if you'd like to try Browse-it!, a handheld, online Web browser, as shown in Figure A.

FIGURE A

If you've been looking for a handheld browser, you might want to give Browse-it! a try. Click picture for a larger image.

Once you've decided whether or not to use Browse-it!, you're pretty well ready to start configuring Intellisync.

Before we go any further, though, I ought to state that the ideal candidate for using Intellisync is someone who already has a great deal of information in Outlook (or any Intellisync-compatible PIM for that matter) and now wants to synchronize that information with a Palm handheld. In that case, importing the information from the PIM to the Palm handheld is a simple matter, once the appropriate settings in Intellisync have been configured.

On the other hand, if your information resides in your Palm handheld (or there's a bit in both places), your path to blissful synchronization will be a bit longer. In that case, I recommend that you get all your information into Outlook, go through each record, and clean everything up. I won't pull any punches here either; this can take quite a bit of time and effort. Then you should perform a one-way synchronization so that the data in Outlook overwrites your Palm handheld. Once you've done that, you'll be ready to synchronize normally from there on out. The instructions that follow assume that you already have all your information in Outlook and are ready for your first HotSync, once setup is complete.

Now, let's get on to more important matters, like configuring your Address Book to synchronize with Outlook Contacts.

Configuring the Address Book and Outlook Contacts
Once you have installed Intellisync, you'll be presented with the window pictured in Figure B.

FIGURE B

Here's where you get to pick and choose. Click picture for a larger image.

To select the application with which you'd like to synchronize your Palm Address Book, simply select Address Book from the list and click Choose. A window similar to the one shown in Figure C will appear.

FIGURE C

Look at all those applications! Click picture for a larger image.

As you can see, Intellisync offers an extremely wide selection of PIMs with which you can synchronize. You can also choose a different PIM for each handheld application, if you so choose. Of course, for today's exercise, I'm assuming you'll be using Outlook across the board.

I also recommend that you choose Export as the Operation setting for your first HotSync. This will overwrite the data in the corresponding applications on your Palm handheld with the data in Outlook and will help minimize future HotSync problems. So again, I caution you to make sure that you have all your information in Outlook and that it's up-to-date and accurate before you begin using Intellisync.

By the way, if you later want to change your conduit choices, just come back to this window and modify the settings. You also need to come back here if you want to change the HotSync options (like Handheld overwrites Desktop, Desktop overwrites Handheld, or Do Nothing), since you cannot modify the options for any Intellisync conduits from the HotSync Manager's Custom dialog box.