The best desktop calendars

With Windows Vista you had your grand entrance: The most diverse widgets that the user could put on the desktop. You always have a calendar, clock and weather information in view - even if these widgets slow down the system extremely when you start it, there are still fans of the desktop apps. Here we show you the best calendar widgets for your desktop.

Rainlendar: universal desktop calendar with reminder function

With "Rainlendar" you get a calendar tool with many functions and German language support. Another advantage is the software's complete independence from the operating system: the calendar is displayed on the desktop of Windows, Linux and MacOS. You can find the free version of the software from us - the full version currently costs around 10 euros.

• As in a full calendar, you can create appointments and add new tasks on this desktop app - practical!
• You can choose from many different skins and find a calendar to match other desktop applications or your background.
• The application notifies you in good time if an entry is pending in your calendar - this alarm can also be put into snooze mode to be reminded again later.
• With a standard calendar data format, you can easily import events and entries from other calendars.

Outlook on the Desktop: Transparent calendar for the desktop

For users of the Outlook calendar, this desktop application is probably the best option. "Outlook on the Desktop" brings the original calendar from the mail program to your desktop transparently and resizable. In contrast to Rainlendar, this calendar is also completely free in the full version.

• Fully-fledged calendar from Outlook with all functions - you can even switch to contacts and inbox mails and operate the calendar as usual.
• The position and size of the calendar can be freely selected, multi-desktops are also supported (more than one screen).
• The calendar works like a transparent window that is always behind the other windows - which is not particularly nice, but works well.

PTBSync: desktop calendar and other useful widgets

With the charityware "PTBSync" you not only get a calendar app for your desktop, but also many small applications such as a diary, a clock, weather display etc. The software works with various templates that you can customize - there are no limits For example, calendars with six displayed months are also possible.

• Free selection from a large number of different widgets and calendar types, which you can still configure yourself.
• As in the above, appointments can be added to the calendar, which are then displayed directly on the desktop calendar.
• Since the application is a bit older, the design no longer corresponds to the current ideas - too bad.

In the next practical tip we will show you how to change your desktop background under Windows.