Google Calendar tip: use GMinder for easy Gcal access

Ever had a time when all you just needed to do was to go to your Google Calendar and just check out the events that you listed? Even without firing up a browser (yes, us on the go people can’t be bothered with these browsers; we need to get to our events fast)? If that’s all you need, then GMinder is just the thing for you.

GMinder is a free reminder program that waits in your system tray and alerts you when you have an upcoming Google Calendar event. GMinder supports multiple calendars and allows you to configure how you want to be alerted. Since it downloads your events, it works offline and enables you to preview your agenda of events. New events can be added to your Google Calendars using a Quick Add feature.

Sadly though, for all you Macintosh people there, GMinder is only for Windows. But for you Windows users there, GMinder requires Microsoft .NET 2.0. If you’re on Windows Vista, however, the .NET 2.0 framework is built in.

Installation is pretty painless: if you have the .NET 2.0 framework up and running, just download the installer and execute. Then enter your Google account information, click the Download button to get your list of calendars, and then select the ones you want to display.

To use GMinder, here are the basic instructions:

• Double-click the tray icon to see the reminder window.
• Click on an event to see its details and press the delete key to remove it.
• New - Create a new event
• Open - Opens the selected event in your browser
• Dismiss - Remove the selected event from GMinder
• Snooze – Hide the reminder window for the duration of the snooze
• Hide - Hide the reminder window. GMinder will continue to run in the background.
• To close GMinder, right-click the tray icon and select Exit

If you want to try GMinder yourself, you can download it here. Remember: this is Windows-only; it requires .NET 2.0 for XP.