Desktop Calendars


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I recently converted from Windows XP Home to Ubuntu 8.04 (due to a kernel problem that crashes the computer when I push the volume up/down I can't upgrade to 8.10, and manually patching the kernel has resulted in headaches for me and both of my most *nix-savvy friends).

I'm pretty happy with it overall, but there is one resounding lament I have in my changeover.

Just before I switched, I was using a program called Active Desktop Manager on my Windows computer.

I won't sing too many praises - they're not paying me to advertise. Suffice it to say this program helps me keep a lot of things in order, helped me recuperate from a slow start to the semester, and reminded me to do my work.

Fundamental to the premise - It's on the desktop.

Always.

The company, tragically, offers nothing for *nix systems, and I don't seem to be able to find anything comparable among Synaptic packages or Google. Plenty of calendar programs, but none that paint themselves directly onto your desktop with the ability to right-click and make notes and a bar for upcoming events.

My request of Neowin is fairly straightforward - I'd like to know if there's a program I've overlooked that meets these specifications. If, by unfortunate happenstance, no such program exists, I'd like to know what a good site is, in your collective opinion, for widget design and creation.

Thanks for your time.

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You haven't referred the desktop your are using, assuming it's GNOME, for desktop widgets try looking here:

http://gnome-look.org/

Browse to the screenlets section, a few calendar widgets can be found there.

From the google desktop gadgets have you tried Google Agenda?

I'm afraid I don't know what desktop I'm using - I'll admit to being a new Linux user, although I've programmed in Unix recently, so I have a modest familiarity with it. I'll look into GNOME. The Google Desktop setup I've tried before and I found it a bit... obtrusive. Which is a little ironic, considering that I'm looking for an obtrusive calendar, but there you have it. This is the one I was using before, which you can see from the screenshot is subtle but prevalent - it doesn't obscure the background to an unrecognizable extent, but the information is immediate and thorough. Most of what I've seen is very predominant - it clutters the desktop.

And Barney, I gave Sunbird a try, but there's no embedding option - it's only a calendar program, not a desktop calendar. I tried KOrganizer as well, but I'm looking for something unwindowed.

Lechio, I'll give the Google Desktop another chance after I finish this post, and I found a clear calendar screenlet that might work on gnome-look. I guess I'll give GNOME a try too. I'll report back with results when I have them.

Thank you both for your help. : )

EDIT1:: Upon a quick investigation, it appears that Ubuntu ships using GNOME. So, yes, I'm using GNOME. : ) Boy, that was easy.

EDIT2:: Google Desktop is giving me trouble - it installs, but Google Gadgets refuse to work. .gg files do not open, even when associated with Google Desktop, and I tried installing Google Gadgets direct as per instructions here, to no avail.

Edited by KGVT
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Maybe you want to look at gdeskcal which is in the Ubuntu repositories.

Another choice is Rainlendar which has a nice feature set.

Rainlendar

It is a little hard to recommend something because I think we don't know what features are in Active Desktop Manager.

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Eureka! Barney, that one you suggested was, unfortunately, not suitable, but the softpedia site contained another one!

This will do fine. An event bar and a scrollable monthly calendar. It's not embedded in the desktop, but otherwise exactly what I'm looking for. I'm happy enough to settle. (At 6:30 in the morning)

Thank you, Barney! An easy solution at last. :3

EDIT:: And only moments after Mr Byte recommended it. Rainlendar is what I'm using now. I'm sorry if I was a little vague initially.

To clarify, I was looking for a calendar that:

Was embedded in the desktop

Could have notes made by simply clicking or right-clicking on the relevant day

Had a list of upcoming notes.

And Rainlendar meets the last two, if not the first. :3 And those two are the more important.

Thank you all for your help.

EDIT2:: And after some quick tweaking with the options, I find it fulfills the first as well. This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you all again, very much. You may have just saved a University degree. xD

Edited by KGVT
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