FIGURE A

If you have Microsoft Outlook, you can choose to synchronize with it instead of Palm Desktop. Click picture for a larger image.

Many Palm handheld organizers ship with Chapura PocketMirror, a collection of conduits that allow you to synchronize your Palm device with Microsoft Outlook. For more information, see http://pocketmirror.com. Now you have a choice to make. You can synchronize your Palm device with Palm Desktop or Microsoft Outlook. Which should you use?

While this choice may seem like a no-brainer, there are several advantages to using Palm Desktop. After all, although Outlook is a powerful personal information manager, it wasn't designed from the ground up to work seamlessly with your Palm device. Palm Desktop was.

As for me, I jumped in with both feet when I learned I could synchronize with Outlook. Though I had only used Outlook for email, I figured that if I could retire the Palm Desktop, then I would have one less program taking up space on my already crowded task bar!

Instead, I discovered that synchronizing with Outlook was one of those "the good, the bad, and the ugly" sort of things--and the good, bad, and ugly varied from module to module. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have proceeded a bit more cautiously.

But what will work best for you? The only way you can find the answer to that question is by comparing the individual modules side-by-side. So let's get going.

Outlook Calendar vs. Date Book
At first glance, Outlook Calendar and Palm Desktop's Date Book look quite similar. But Outlook Calendar offers a number of features that make it more functional and easier to use.

My favorite feature is Outlook's Work Week View, shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B

Outlook Calendar offers a customizable Work Week View. Click picture for a larger image.

As the name implies, this view only shows the workdays, and it's customizable--you can specify when your workday begins and ends, as well as which days comprise your workweek.

For example, I work four 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday. I was able to set up Outlook to reflect that. I like being able to look at my workweek at a glance. The Week View in the Palm Desktop's Date Book, pictured in Figure C, always seemed crowded.

FIGURE C

Palm Desktop's Week View feels crowded. Click picture for a larger image.

In Palm Desktop, I used to toggle between the Day and Week Views. Now I keep Outlook's Work Week View up full time.