I’m hearing reports that MobileMe Calendar has come out of beta. My web interface appears to be sitting on the fence. The /beta link doesn’t work, but the /calendar link appears to load to the CalDAV-specific solution.
Does anyone else see their MobileMe calendar web client is out of beta?
Update: Yes, it’s out of beta. Here’s the FAQs.
Now that we know Apple is refocusing its efforts on OS X, perhaps it’s time to reflect on OS X 10.5 and 10.6 and build up anticipation by way of wishful thinking.
These are the kinds of things I consider while spending idle time in a Thinking Chamber. I thought I would start the discussion by passing along the flotsam that arrived on my mind’s shore this fine afternoon.
Remember, this is a wishlist, not a list of predictions. I’ll also throw out a simple rule of engagement. Let’s make wishes that are plausible, not ridiculous or emotional.
Well, okie. You can still be somewhat emotional and fall into the plausible category.
OS X 10.7 client wishlist:
OS X 10.7 server wishlist:
I’m sure we’ll think of more, so let’s get to talkin’… again, don’t be emotional, think what’s actually possible. Think about what plagues you on a regular basis. What would you like Apple to do about it? What do you think they could do to extend OS X’s reach to the general populace?
The MobileMe Control Panel has been updated to v1.6.1 and provides support to Outlook when connecting to the new MobileMe CalDAV service. The CalDAV service is currently in beta. To get it operational, you must login to me.com and click on the Calendar, then request an invitation.
Apple has introduced a new beta for MobileMe. The press announcement didn’t say much more than, “Hooray, there’s a new interface and it looks like the iPad!” That’s about all the press said as well. But there’s something so much more behind the scenes as usual.
If you have updated your Mac to 10.6.4, open up your iCal application. Go to Preferences/Accounts and try to add a new account. If you notice there, you can now add “MobileMe” as a new account type. Clicking this allows you to put in the MobileMe user credentials.
iCal MobileMe Account Setup box in 10.6.4
But if you’re paying attention, you’ll see that the initial sync gives you an error:
iCal MobileMe Error Box
Notice the name of the operation? ”CalDAVAccountRefreshQueueableOperation.” That’s CalDAV, folks. That’s the same calendaring server implementation in Snow Leopard server.
To make this actually work and not receive the error, you have to log into the MobileMe website, get into the calendar icon and click “request an invite” for the beta. Without being in the beta, you won’t be rolled over to the CalDAV implementation.
Why is this important? Apple is one of the major players in the calendaring standards consortium “CalConnect.” One of the proposed standards that CalConnect is driving today is the use of CalDAV as a standard. Apple’s implementation of CalDAV is even open source.
Now they’re talking the talk and walking the walk. There’s a FAQ on the beta here and it does give a little more detail on the CalDAV implementation.
But there’s something else.
I love conspiracy theories when it results in good news. While this beta is good news, there’s even better news. Buried in the FAQ is this little tidbit:
Support for using the beta with Microsoft Outlook is coming soon.
There is more information at the link here. To get this working in Microsoft Outlook, you have to install the MobileMe Control Panel for Windows. Effectively, this means Apple is bringing CalDAV support to Outlook.
…and that, my friends, is the real story. Apple is providing an alternative to Exchange for Outlook users. The next logical step would be extending this CalDAV connector to Snow Leopard Server for Outlook users as well.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Apple has a knife with Microsoft’s name on the blade.
Businesses are infatuated with calendaring. The proliferation of mobile devices has contributed to the love affair. Getting your calendars to work right and work well for you and your business can sometimes be a challenge.
One facet of calendaring is delegation. Some setups get this right, maybe get it wrong. Most of the time it’s wrong just because it’s misunderstood. Okay, yeah, I know, that’s the Exchange world. We’re not going to talk about that. We’re here to talk about OS X Server and iCal. iCal Server on Snow Leopard supports the concept of delegation. Fortunately, the iCal client on Snow Leopard also supports delegation. Apple has boiled it down to two simple permissions: read and/or write. That’s enough for most people. If you’re an all-Mac shop and no one is trying to do delegation with an iPhone, you can stop reading here.
If you are, however, a heavy user of delegation functions, you may be surprised to find the lack of delegation options in the CalDAV setup on the iPhone. Not to fear, we can solve that for you. The iPhone CalDAV client actually does support delegation with iCal server. It’s just not readily apparent.
Let’s say we’re trying to set up delegation with my manager, Joe Schmoe. I’ve already set up our desktop iCal clients with the necessary permissions for delegation. Joe Schmoe has allowed write access to his calendar as per the screenshot here.
It’s quite simple to add delegation to my iCal client, but what if I need to be able to write to Joe’s calendar with my iPhone? Simple enough. First, go to the Settings icon and click it. Click “Mail, Contacts, Calendars.” We’ll assume you’ve already added your own CalDAV account here for the iCal server. Let’s add another one. On this new CalDAV account, configure it just like you would configure for your own account. Use your login and password just like your regular CalDAV account. I would suggest you change the “description” to something a little more appropriate like “Joe’s calendar.”
After configuring the account, click “Next.” Assuming you set up your account and password correctly you’ll get back to the main calendars screen. Now here’s the trick to make this work. Click on the account again and go into the configuration. Click the “Advanced Settings” button near the bottom. What you want to do is change the “Account URL” to the short name of the user. In this case, Joe’s short name is “jschmoe.” I’ll change it there. Be sure to leave the rest of the URL intact.
Once you’ve made the change, click the left arrow to head back to the main configuration and once more to get back to the main account screens. Congratulations, you’ve now set up delegate access to your manager’s calendar. Now all you have to do to view the calendar is go to the Calendar icon like you normally would. Joe’s calendar will show there. You can select it by itself and write events to the calendar if you wish. That’s it!
If your manager isn’t lazy like my fictional one you could also have him keep “Write” unchecked in the original account delegation setup. That will provide read-only access to his calendar when you’re on the go. Of course, if you’re adept and using “invite” and the availability window you may not need to use delegation at all.
There you have it!
Also, one last plug. If you’re really interested in helping to make the calendar as functional and ubiquitous as email, please consider joining CalConnect. CalConnect is a consortium devoted to the standardization of all things related to calendars. They’re doing great work and I’m sure they would love the help.
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