Yahoo Calendar has a lot of useful functions: it shows your events for the day, week, month, and year, as well as by an agenda-style Event List. Yahoo also lets you manage your tasks. Unfortunately, Yahoo Calendar puts obtrusive ads on your calendar page,...

Accessible from anywhere; task support; can get reminders via instant message.

Ad-laden interface; syncing is Windows-only; can be shared only with other Yahoo users; adding events is labor-intensive; can't specify different notifications for different times.

By default, Yahoo Calendar shows your events for the day; tabs at the top of the interface let you also view your calendar by week, month, and year, as well as by an agenda-style Event List. Yahoo also lets you manage your tasks, which show up in a box on...

As a word processor, little has changed in Word 2008. The elimination of VBA and weak support for AppleScript and Automator make the program far less versatile and valuable for users who really need automation. But the program's streamlined interface and...

Streamlined new interface; new Publishing Layout view; improved citation and bibliographic tools; refined preferences tools; Elements Gallery makes adding graphics, charts, and other elements easy.

No Visual Basic support; limited support for AppleScript and Automator; Formatting Palette may outgrow even large screens; scroll wheels don't work in Formatting Palette.

The biggest downside in what would otherwise be an excellent upgrade: the elimination of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). In its place, Word 2008 offers limited support for AppleScript and Automator. Those replacements don't offer the recording or oth...

For voice chat users who spend a lot of time near a Mac (but not right in front of it), the DialogPhone provides more freedom and mobility than a Bluetooth headset.

Inexpensive; easy to set up; good battery life; longer range than a Bluetooth headset.

Ringtone not customizable; no display on handset; not possible to initiate conference calls from the Phone Book interface; only shows online buddies with voice capability.

The product includes a simple plastic handset and a transmitter that plugs into a Mac USB port. The handset is a sleek-looking, AAA-battery-powered unit with an earpiece, microphone, volume control, mute key, and power button. About the size of a cell pho...

MYOB's FirstEdge 3 is a best-of-class small-business accounting application that gives you excellent features at a great price. While form customization can be frustrating, it's unlikely to interfere with how well FirstEdge handles your business finances....

Integrated credit card processing; high-end business accounting features; can view prior year's data; lets you easily undo errors in reconciled transactions; includes free copy of FirstEdge for your accountant.

Weak form customization tools; must activate every new company file; updated online help not available.

The latest version of FirstEdge, version 3, doesn't offer much in the way of major new features-most of those that have been added are enhancements to existing tools such as Address Book contact syncing-but it has been reprogrammed as a Universal Binary,...

NovaMind Pro 4 is a powerful program designed for experienced mind-mappers. If you're just getting into this method of organizing ideas, you may find the graphics options overwhelming. But the ability to create templates is a boon for those who use mind m...

Powerful mind-mapping functions; many graphic and display options; can build multiple mind maps in a single document; Spotlight savvy; multiple printing and exporting options.

Number of graphic options and palettes can be confusing; outline view is limited; document windows don't remember their size; a bit pricey for casual mind-mappers.

A number of Mac programs let you make mind maps, and NovaMind 4.0.11 Pro is one of the most graphically advanced of these mind-mapping tools. You can start with a blank document, or get inspiration from one of a dozen preset templates, which contain forma...

Despite a few rough edges, Keynote '08 is more impressive than ever. With PowerPoint 2008 slated for release early next year, I'm hoping that the competition will compel Apple to address Keynote's remaining shortcomings before then.\nBest Current Price:...

Handy Format Bar; Smart Builds automate showing multiple images per slide; transparent background feature; resizable thumbnails.

Difficult to define circular or elliptical motion paths; no support for audio spanning several slides; no timeline display for animations; doesn't interact with QuickTime VR.

Presentation software adds path motion, time-saving features

Numbers '08 is a strong entry for Apple in the spreadsheet arena, especially for those who find Excel's feature set overwhelming. With its free-form layout, easy-to-use templates, and elegant interface, Numbers is a powerful, yet approachable, tool.

Easy-to-use, elegant interface; free-form layout options; beautiful, well-designed templates; drag-and-drop formulas; interactive Print View allows for page positioning; compatibility with most Excel files.

Exports to Excel lose formatting details; no support for Excel macros, AppleScript, or saving to Open XML; limited scientific graphing options; larger files slow down the program.

The answer to these questions is any of yes, no, and maybe, depending on your specific spreadsheet needs. Those with basic needs will be impressed with Numbers' ability to make short work of their projects. People with more complex requirements, and those...

For new buyers, FileMaker Pro 9 is the most attractive version of the product ever. But, should current users upgrade? For most, the answer is yes. For those users who work with FileMaker a lot, version 9 is the third home run FileMaker has hit in its las...

Provides live access to powerful SQL data sources without programming; conditional formatting; convenient Append-to-PDF and other enhancements over previous versions; server is easier to install and administer; server provides better support for Web publi...

Some minor bugs persist from previous version.

FileMaker Pro comes in two flavors: a standard and an advanced version. The latter includes some extra developer-oriented features, but otherwise it is much like the standard version, so most of what I say here applies equally to both. FileMaker also offe...

MindManager 7.0.270 is a top-notch brainstorming tool. While the program still lacks integration with Microsoft Office applications, this shouldn't deter you from using an otherwise excellent application.

Outline view allows you to easily switch between different organizing principles; many new export formats; easy to move data to and from outline and project-management applications; better printing options.

No Microsoft Office integration; maps exported to and from other applications lose special formatting.

Version 7 offers new and better printing options, making it possible for you to print large maps over several pages, add footers and headers to your mind maps, and preview your print job. MindManager also now allows you to create custom views of your mind...

Journler 2.5.2 turns the basic word processor into a tool you can use to connect and organize your thoughts and ideas. Whether you need a tool to keep a daily blog, record project notes, or write a novel, if you own a Mac and use it to write, you should t...

iLife, Safari, and Address Book integration; document organization and linking tools; easy-to-use blogging features; journal entries can include recorded audio, photos, and video.

No .Mac synchronization capabilities; limited options for Blogger users.

In many ways, Journler is like iLife for your writing. Just as iTunes keeps track of songs and iPhoto keeps track of pictures, Journler keeps track of your documents. And just like the iLife applications, Journler includes the ability to create smart fold...