Upon initial discovery of Google calendar a couple of years ago, I was mystified by the ability to send SMS reminders to yourself regarding your appointments. This alone has made Google calendar my sole favorite in terms of calendar software. I use it at work, I used it at school, and I use it to schedule personal events such as birthdays or dentist appointments.

Until recently, Google calendar could be synchronized with Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, and Evolution (and perhaps some more calendar clients) via gCal Daemon. Now that the synchronization to Outlook is supported natively, I can honestly say that Google has developed some of the best productivity software available on the internet.

Personally, I use a combination of Google calendar and Google Notebooks. Google notebook provides me with a valuable to do list, and with the Google Notebook Firefox extension, I am able to add to it on the go.

Expanding upon this, I have incorporated the recently released Google Calendar Sync tool. This tool integrates into your Outlook calendar file, and does a one-way or two-way sync between Outlook and Google calendar.

I recommend this to anyone who has a cell phone, but secretly wish it was a PDA; or to anyone who deals with scheduling on a regular basis without a Blackberry or similar device. Keeping on top of tasks via my mobile phone instantly increased my productivity. I now plan my day before it starts, and have text messages remind me of when to move on to the next phase of work, task in my next actions list, or even to take a break.

Give yourself a break and try Google Calendar with Google Calendar Sync.

You may have noticed recently at The Tech Juice that my posts have tended to be Mac-centric. This will probably be the case for the majority of the summer, as I am trying out a new set up that allows me to run my Macbook with an external display, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc. It is no new feat to be able to do this, but I thought that it might be a nice experiment to see how I function outside of my primarily Windows / Linux world.

This is not to say I did not really use my Macbook before, rather, I am trying to use ONLY my Macbook.

So far, my biggest pain has been the fact that I purchased the lower end Macbook for several reasons, and it does not come with an internal DVD writer. I have had to ask my suspiciously gorgeous fiancé to perform these tasks for me, so I could keep clean from my PC addiction.

Having said that, my Windows and Linux detox has been going very smooth. I still use Windows XP at work – but for any kind of computer usage beyond my day to day at work, the Macbook is my only friend.

Expect more updates, and a lot more information from the Mac perspective in the coming months. Don’t worry though, XP won’t be left in the dust, but Linux might have to wait awhile before I give her a call.