This post is for all the people who try to keep the data on a number of devices in sync. At the time of this writing, I used an iMac, Windows, a Pocket PC (Dell x51v), a BlackBerry Curve, and sometimes a Palm TX. There is no real reason for me to keep three handheld devices, but I do have them, and ideally would like to keep them all in sync.
There are several approaches you can take regarding syncing your data across multiple platforms:
- Use a hosted exchange service with a suitable PDA (Smartphone, BlackBerry, a Pocket PC with Wireless connectivity), Outlook, and Entourage on the Mac.
- Use an online syncing service that is designed to sync across multiple platforms. You can get a sense of one such service, Plaxo, by reading A Look at Plaxo: My Interview With Plaxo VP John McCrea
- You can use software on your Mac to brute-force a syncing between iCal, Address Book, Outlook, and a Pocket PC. I describe how to this below, in the section entitled “Using Missing Sync.”
- You can decide to just keep your data on one platform and one handheld device. In my case, I run Windows on my iMac through VMware Fusion, so I can have Windows and my iMac operating simultaneously and can even copy and paste data between them. I describe this a bit in How VMware Fusion Eliminates Some of My Syncing Woes
- You can also just use online tools such as Google Calendar, Gmail, and Remember The Milk so you don’t have to bother with syncing.
I have talked with several business professionals who have spent countless hours trying to sync data across multiple platforms and devices. They are increasingly leaning to the latter two of the above options. At some point you have to remind yourself that the objective is that the technology serve you, not the other way around.
I discuss some advantages and disadvantages of each approach in below. There is probably much we can all learn from each other in this area, so please share your insights in the comments.
Using a Hosted Exchange
This is the approach I used before I retired, but that was also before I bought my iMac. I did try it with my Mac, setting it up first in Outlook via the Windows partition on my Mac, and then setting it up on Entourage on my iMac. When I got to the part of setting it up on my BlackBerry Curve, I found out that I need to have BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Service) instead of the BIS setup I have (BlackBerry Internet Service). Given that this could cost me up to $30/month extra, and given that the hosted exchange cost is about another $20/month, I decided against this path. While it’s not really very expensive, I just don’t need it enough to justify an extra $50/month.
If I were working full time and on the road a lot, hosted exchange service would appeal to me. But, for a retired guy like me, who travels very little and has pretty much a fixed income, it made no sense. This is a great option for you to look into, though, if the cost does not concern you and if you use Entourage on a Mac (hosted exchange does not work with iCal, at this writing).
Using Plaxo or a Similar Service
Plaxo does a pretty decent job of keeping two platforms and several devices in sync. It does a good job of syncing what it does sync. The only real downside I saw to it was that it does not sync your Outlook Tasks to iCal (or vice versa). And, it creates a new calendar in iCal that has all of your Outlook entries in it, rather than creating separate iCal calendars for each Outlook Appointment Category (such as Work, Home, Travel, …). If you want true syncing across Outlook and iCal, it does not really give it to you.
Plaxo does have the added benefit of syncing your data to Google Calendar. It also does a great job syncing contact information. If you are an appointment-focused and contact-focused person, and not a task-focused one, Plaxo could be a good solution for you: the only problem I have with it is in the Tasks area. Clarification Update: Plaxo does have an online Tasks application, which contains the Tasks synced from Outlook. It is possible to use this and just forget about Task syncing with iCal.
Using VMware Fusion or Parallels
VMware Fusion, or Parallels, lets you just ignore iCal and Address Book in the Mac, so that you use Outlook exclusively, even though you are at your Mac. The only downside I am aware of for this approach is that it does not populate your Outlook data into the Mac apps, so if you want to do that, this does not get you there. If you decide you don’t care that the data is in iCal as long as you can access it in Outlook from your Mac, this is a painless way to go. It works and it is simple to set up.
Using Online Data Services
A lot of people I know are just fed up with trying to keep data on different systems, and are using Google Calendar and Remember The Milk and Gmail and similar apps for just keeping their data online. If you can be connected all of the time, this is probably the most sensible approach. Software manufacturers will always stick with their own data formats, and there is virtually no hope that iCal and Outlook and any other PIM software will ever use a common format that makes it easy for you to sync your data between them. Going to an online approach overcomes this problem.
Note, some online PIM applications are compatible with Google Gears (for example, Remember The Milk is), so you can have your data without even being online.
Using Missing Sync on the Mac
After first getting my iMac, the approach I took to syncing my existing Outlook and Pocket PC data to it was to use the sync tool Missing Sync. This software is available to sync Pocket PCs (and Smartphones), Palms, and BlackBerrys to Mac computers. At the time of this update (November 2007), it does not fully support the Leopard operating system, although there are beta versions of it for Leopard. (When I upgraded to Leopard, I did not install Missing Sync, because I had learned that it is difficult to do a complete uninstall of it if you decide you do not want it. However, the software does operate very well, at least I had good experiences with it overall on my Tiger operating system.)
Using this software can work pretty well. Also, it is generally straightforward to use, so I won’t go into a lot of detail on it. I do think it is important to point out a couple of areas that can be problematic, though. I do go into a good bit of detail on these, just in case you run across the problems when you use Missing Sync. A final point before getting into using Missing Sync: there is a recently-released alternative called SyncMate, which is available in for download here. I have not tried it but thought you should be aware of it. It is free while it is in the beta stage … I do not know if the developers will ultimately charge for it or not.
When I used Missing Sync to sync the Outlook data from my laptop’s Outlook and my Pocket PC, I don’t think I had any problems. I honestly do not recall at this point. (Getting old sucks.) But, when I used it to sync with the Windows partition on my iMac, which I had set up using Apple’s Bootcamp, I had problems with duplicate entries. After considerable experimentation, I finally figured out the probable cause of the duplicates: the system clock on my BootCamp Partition was not in sync with the one on my Mac’s main partition. In fact, the clock in the BootCamp Partition (Windows) was off by several hours.
It is crucial when syncing between multiple systems for the clocks to at least be close to the same time. Does not have to be exact, of course, but when two systems are off by several hours you can really get into some problems. (I no longer have this problem. I don’t know if the later versions of BootCamp fixed it or if VMware Fusion forces a clock sync, or what.) This is also something to keep in mind when making time zone changes (including the periodic shuffling some countries do with Daylight Savings Time).
But, before I identified the clock difference as the likely culprit, I found some ways to brute-force a synchronization between the iMac, the Windows Partition, and my Pocket PC. The remainder of this article describes how I did that. If you are not yet proficient with Outlook, it may be worth the read just to find out some of the tricks I used on Outlook.
The first thing I did was to back up all of my Calendar entries (which is where the bulk of the problems were taking place) by creating a new folder within Outlook. I did this by selecting View within Outlook and then selecting Folder List within it:
Then, I created a new calendar by right-clicking on the Personal Folders folder and selecting new folder, with the result the following poping up:
Note that Outlook defaults to creating new folders that are designed for viewing “Mail and Post Items.” So, I instead selected the new folder to contain “Calendar Items.”
Once this was done, I created a view within my Calendars that would enable to see all of the Calendar entries in list form, along with a time-stamp showing when each entry was modified. The reason for using this time stamp is that enabled me to see, for duplicate items, which had been the most recently created one. A bit more on this part later.
I created this new view by selecting View from the Outlook menu, then Arrange By, and then Current View, as shown below:
Then from Current View, I selected Define Views, and you can see from the following which fields I chose to have included in the Calendar view:
Note that Outlook defaults to showing only Frequently-used fields, which does not include the Modified field, so I selected the option to show date and time fields so I could include the Modified time stamp.
Once done with all of this, I viewed each of my Calendar items, deleting duplicates as I went. (Where there was a duplicate, I deleted the older of the two entries, meaning that I was keeping the entries that had been synced with iCal.) Then, I copied all of the calendar entries to the CalBackup folder that I had created earlier.
Then, after I was content that my Outlook Calendar and Task entries were all okay, I booted back into the Mac operating system. I made sure that the system clock was not out of whack, went through the iCal entries and deleted any that were dupes, created a backup of iCal (just in case), and then used Missing Sync, again, to sync my Pocket PC to Outlook.
I do not recall how many iterations I had to go through to get everything in shape. I think it was a couple. It might have been a few. It should have been only once, but, regardless, it works now and indeed works just fine.
If you’ve had similar problems with multiple-device syncing, let us hear from you.
But the most annoying thing about syncing, is that if there is a 15min reminder set for an appointment, and you sync this across 4 devices – you get 4 reminders.
Amen to that, Eddie!
You may be older but you certainly are savvy.
I have an Okta touch phone in NZ and have just purchased an iMac with Entourage. How do I sync these. I am so frustrated. SyncMate duplicates entries and misses others?? Some entires change from PM to AM, plus I get 4 or 5 of them.
Step by step help would be greatly appreciated.
Glenn
Glenn,
I might not be able to help you much on this: I have not personally used SyncMate (only Missing Sync), so I am not familiar with of its idiosynchrocies. But, I will try to help.
First off, I checked Apple’s iSync page to see if iSync provides support for the Okta. It does not appear that it does. I do not know if this relates to the problems you have or not, though. Just information for you.
Secondly, I would go into Entourage’s Preferences, and into Sync Services and uncheck any items that are checked, such as “Synchronize contacts with Address Book and .Mac”) … I have always encountered probs with duplicates any time I tried to use both Entourage and the built-in Mac apps. One or the other generally works, but using both tends to lead to dupes in my experience.
Third, somewhere in your settings for Entourage or SyncMate there is probably an item that lets you Reset Sync History. I would use that. And, then before syncing I would do a couple of other things. First, I would reboot. I’ve seen this recommended for anytime one does a Reset Sync History. Not sure if it is really needed, but what the hell. Secondly, I would go through all of my info in Entourage and delete any duplicates and change the times to the correct settings (or do so in the Okta, which ever is easier to do). This is a huge pain in the butt, but otherwise the dupes are likely to stay.
After all that I would back up my data, and then attempt a resync. You might also want to try Missing Sync. They are not free but they do have a trial period on the software (I can’t recall how long it is).
I personally have gotten away from using Entourage. I’ve simplified life a lot and just use my Address Book and iCal entries on the Mac to sync through MobileMe to my iPod Touch. I use Appigo’s ToDo app on the Touch to sync with Remember The Milk for tasks. It all works great and I don’t have the hassles of trying to keep so many things in sync. I have basically stopped using Outlook, too. It is possible to make all of this stuff work together but I have found it is less of a hassle to just use web apps or to go the route that I have (figure out which minimal set of items you want to keep in sync and say screw the rest).
Best of luck.
I’ve been struggling with syncing the appointments, address book, and tasks entries between my Windows Mobile Phone and my Mac for months. I have tried Missing Sync and PocketMac and they are the worst pieces of software i have ever come across. I was a software developer for many years before retiring and if I had been involved with any software as bad as those, I would be ashamed to show my face. They create duplicates, they don’t set alarms correctly (it’s great getting woken up at midnight by an alarm on your phone that is supposed to go off at 10am), and their support staff are clueless.
I haven’t tried the SyncMac software mentioned in this thread but the comments seem to indicate that it has the same duplication problems.
I’m now of the opinion is that is a total waste of time and effort to try to keep these platforms in sync. The only reason for me trying is that I have a database application that runs on my Windows Mobile phone and Windows XP desktop that will not run on my Mac. However, I am now running VMWare Fusion on my Mac and can sync the application directly from it to my phone with ActiveSync and I now plan to throw away my Windows Mobile Phone, replace it with an iPhone, use my old Toshiba ocket PC PDA for the database app, and just hope that the sync capabilities provided by Apple for the Mac desktop and iPhone work a correctly. Yes, I will have to carry around a phone and a PDA but that is a small price to pay compared to the frustrations of cross-platform syncing.
Pete
Pete,
For what it’s worth, I am also coming to believe that it’s just a waste of time trying to keep too many things in sync. I am personally pleased with using MobileMe and my iPod Touch … and can see myself getting an iPhone in the next few months (still have a year left on my contract with AT&T). To me the whole point is to have data available with you wherever you go … and with the web apps that are available now (such as MobileMe, or even Gmail and Remember the Milk), the “need” to sync multiple devices is diminishing.
Anyway, thanks for the perspective.
There is a much simpler way to do this, which I’m sure you’ll see is advantageous. I use a web based calendar program called thyme, which is ical compatible (the standard, not the mac program). Then, bidirectional sync can be achived with mozilla, outlook and pocketpc using a program called kalyx.
ical on mac only does unidirectional sync.
The advantage is that your calendar is also available anywhere on the web
That’s a good straightforward, simple approach.
Also, there are various tools available that let you sync iCal with Google Calendar, which accomplishes much the same thing.
I now personally just use Apple’s MobileMe to keep my iPod Touch in sync with MobileMe calendar and iCal. I have pretty much pushed Outlook to the side. But, that’s just me. I got tired of trying to keep things in sync … too much goes wrong in the long run and it wastes more time than it ever saved (for example, most sync programs do not do a good job with repeating appointments, especially when syncing to Google Calendar).
Thanks for sharing your approach. Much appreciated!
So…I should abandon all hope of merging the appointments on my office Outlook with my Home iCal and publish those to mobile.me so that my wife can subscribe to it on her iMac…? I am facile with MissingSync and have used it to sync with my PDA, which I bring it home and sync with my iMac using Bluetooth. I was hoping for a less cumbersome solution-maybe pen and paper?
Publishing to MobileMe should give you what you’re looking for. But, I hope without sounding too cynical, pen and paper is often a better solution than trying to keep multiple devices in sync. It’s a shame that sync technology is no better than it is. You’d think a country that put a man on the moon a generation ago could do better with something so seemingly as synchronization.
Best of luck to you.
@S. Murray – You can try a few different ways to approach this, but Outlook 2003 (and greatly enhanced in 2007) a neat way to export your calendar to a server that can then be subscribed to with iCal or Gmail. Some basic information here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/outlook/archive/2007/08/08/publishing-a-calendar-using-office-online.aspx
Also, Google has a Sync client for Windows that will put your calendar on Google Calendar, which you could set up your wife to subscribe to via iCal, potentially:
http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=98563
That’s a bit short, but hopefullt it helps get you in the right direction.
Thomas:
Thanks for the feedback. I have looked diligently at the msdn website, and in my Outlook 2003 but find no provision for publishing a 2003 calendar. I did create the Google calendar, and it seems to sync just fine, as evidenced by the icon in the right lower corner of the screen, but when I look at my Google calendar, there is nothing there….ARGH. I will probably try to remove the program and start over again unless you have some ideas.
@S. Murray – Sorry, I don’t have Outlook 2003 right now, but if I remember correctly, you go into Tools -> Options -> Calendar and put in a URL for your Free/Busy data. In Outlook 2003, this only shows your time as free or busy – no calendar data is included.
Not too sure what’s going on with the Google Calendar sync. There is some troubleshooting information on this help page:
http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=89974
Good luck, and let me know if there is anything else I can help you with…
Thomas:
It was a simple problem of not clicking on the calendar name with Google. Both of these solutions limit me to only one calendar and there are office (patient names) items that I keep in a separate calendar that I don’t publish for my wife to subscribe to. What I am doing now is using my PDA as a mule to carry changes in my office Outlook calendar home. I then use Missing Sync which allows me to upload important events for my wife to see (like when I am on call) and for me to download everything that she has on her iMac. Then, of course I carry that all back to the office PC and whatever I put in my Mac ends up on Mobileme. Ironic that these gadgets were supposed to uncomplicate our lives…
S. Murray
It seems to me that Mobile Me will sync the contacts and calendar with OUtlook and Ical and the Address book on the Mac. I wish it did so with Entourgage…this would make me happy.
I’m struggling, however to get my memos and tasks from Outlook 2003 to my new Imac…not even sure where they have tasks and notes and memos and such….
ANy ideas?
Also using a Palm Tungsten E
Hi Meg,
A company called MarkSpace offers a product called Missing Sync that can sync your Palm Tungsten E to the iMac. It will sync calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes. I have not used it for my Palm TX but used their Pocket PC version to accomplish the same thing. If you are doing it as a one-time thing, it works great. If you try to keep all your devices in sync, I find that it’s hard to avoid getting duplicates. It costs about $40 if I remember right.
If you want to avoid the expense, you can use a service like Toodledo to import your tasks from Outlook (it will have instructions for doing so), and then you have your tasks online … not the same as having them within iCal, but could be workable depending on your situation and needs. I haven’t seen a similar service for Outlook Notes, but you could search for those. If you were using an iPhone, Appigo has a Todo application that would let you take the Toodledo tasks and put them on your iPhone. I think they also have an app to do this with Outlook notes, but I have not tried this.
Finally, again if you want to avoid the expense of Missing Sync, you might try searching for AppleScripts that will handle Outlook exported files (in csv format or text format). I did a search and looked through a few pages, seeing a lot of scripts for getting Outlook appointments into iCal and into Entourage, but not for tasks, notes, and contacts. However, it seems to me that I have seen some such scripts in the past, say about a year and a half ago, when I was looking for alternative ways of getting Outlook info over to my iMac. So, if you are really patient in looking through the search results, you might find something that would work. I wish I could say one way or the other with certainty, but it has been too long since I researched it myself.
Best of luck to you. Let me know if I can attempt further clarification, and by all means let us all know if you find some good solutions.
@Meg – As Bruce mentioned above, Appigo has a product called Notebook that will allow you to sync with Toodledo’s Notes feature, which is free. Both Appigo Todo and Notes sync with Toodledo, and Todo also sync with Remember the Milk. I successfully moved all of my notes over to Toodledo (I copied them over by hand) and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. Nice to have reference notes including partial text search. And it’s available online for me as well.
I finally have freed myself from the Gordonian Knot that is Missing Sync. I am now able to see my wife’s calendar (iCal) , my own desktop calendar (iCal), and my office PC calendar (Outlook 2007) at the same time and on each computer separately without having to haul that Win mobile POC PDA around and swear at the Missing Sync miscues. I have published the Outlook 2007 and sent emails to my wife’s and my .mac accounts and visa versa. You have to use the “anyone can view” option if you don’t have some MSlive account, but it works seamlessly. Each time you open the calendar it is updated and you can manually update in Outlook by clicking Tools/send and receive all.
I don’t sync my contacts-way too much overlap with an iPhone that can keep both separately anyway.
Life just keeps getting better and better…
Gordonian Knot is a good description, for sure.
I like your solution. You are right that things are getting simpler now. About time, eh?
Thanks for the update!
An update here too. Still using iCal as the basic standard but changed backend to Horde Groupware, a relatively easy to install web based groupware suite.
So which clients work… Well on the desktop there’s thun
derbird/sunbird bidirectionally and ical unidorectionally (not sure about outlook)
Kalyx still works on the pocketpc, but I have changed mobile platform to the iPhone (with a lot of “personalization”). There is a nice app called ToDo+Cal that does a very smooth bidirectional sync (no erors at all to date).
The nice thing about this set up is the calendar sharing, standard compliant online calendar and integration win sharing events/busy lists/whole calendars in read or write format with other users (or partners). Also it is all over https or webdav so no third company has my data, and let’s face it Microsoft, Apple and Google haven’t demonstrated the highest respect for other people’s details and generally profit from the information contained therin.
Admittedly I use a different application for task management as I need nested tasks, it’s called Thing.
Hope your solutions are going well.
Zeigerpuppy, thanks for the update. As S. Murray pointed out, it is good to see that there are more possibilities now than there were a year or two ago.
I’m happy using my iPod Touch as a PDA right now. I plan on getting the iPhone 3GS within the next couple of weeks and it will become my PDA and phone. It’ll be nice to finally have a good converged device.