Hi all, good discussion here! I appreciate the comments, especially with regard to what you're looking for in a calendar/PIM. That really helps direct our future effort, as VueMinder will continue to evolve and improve based on the needs and desires of its users (or potential users!). Our next major version, 5.0.0, will be released within the next day or two, and contains many requested improvements.
1. It doesn't support categories - you need to build a separate calendar for each category (as with Google Calendar). I find this is clumsy way to work. But each to their own.
-johnk
John, we're improving this in 5.0.0. You'll be able to categorize both tasks and events. There's also a built-in category editor, so you can add, remove, or rename categories. When you rename or remove a category, all events or tasks associated with that category will be automatically updated, so it will be pretty slick.
2. More seriously, although the program claims to share iCalendar (.ics) files with other calendars/users, it is not "sharing" in the accepted sense -- instead it is "importing" the existing ics file each time, then creating its own calendar, and then exporting the file back to ics again, deleting the categories (if they exist) and completely overwriting the original ics. That was a surprise to me.
-johnk
Categories will be preserved in ics files. As for preserving other things, we still have some more work to do in this area. Changing this requires a bit of a redesign to how we implemented ics file sharing.
Questions for Dan.
"VueMinder Calendar is free to try and fully functional for up to 30 days. After 30 days, it will no longer run, but any events or reminders that you defined during the trial period will be waiting for you to view after you've purchased a license."
Really you should simply prevent new entries. I hesitate to put in real data if it will become totally invisible after the trial. Too much pressure. I want to be able to at least screen view or print what I had without counting days or having to request a special extension. Nobody is going to continue to *use* a calendar long on stale entries, so you will not lose anything.
-Steven Avery
Steven, thank you for the suggestion. That's a good idea! We'll work on making that change.
"A single-user license can be used by a single user on up to 5 computers ...."
- Excellent (separate users on one puter - separate licenses though)
Dan, you have gone to release 4 from release 1 in about a year. Has this required a paid upgrade ? What is your policy. I would hope that with a new software you would give something like 2-years (at least 1-year or 18 months) of free upgrades. Have the release 1 folks been hit with 3 upgrades ? You clearly go version to version much quicker than most softwares.
-Steven Avery
Before version 5.0.0, anyone that bought VueMinder received a license that provides free updates for life. So, people that bought version 1.0 have been able to update to version 4.0 for free, will be able update to 5.0 for free, and will continue to receive free updates for life. While generous, this policy doesn't really make much sense from a business perspective, so we're going to be changing this policy when version 5.0 is released. Anyone buying VueMinder will automatically receive a 1 year service contract. A service contract allows for free updates until it expires, and can be renewed at any time - even after it has expired. If you like the free updates for life policy, you can lock into it by buying VueMinder before we officially release 5.0.0 (but no pressure!) :P
Thanks again for the comments and suggestions. We're working hard to make VueMinder the very best calendar and reminder program available, and can't do it without all the excellent feedback and ideas we receive from customers and forums like this.
Regards,
Dan Chartrand
VueSoft