Mac: Plaxo working on Leopard issues, Fixes due soon

The dust is still settling with recent Leopard upgrades on the Mac and some issues and incompatibilities are starting to surface. As I recommended in a previous post, you should try to update all of your Applications prior to installing Leopard, however, this practice is also good AFTER you do the upgrade.

One program that I can’t really live without is Plaxo. It, essentially, allows you:

• to automatically update your address book when your contacts change their info
• to automatically update your contacts address book when your info changes
• sync your changes across multiple platforms and applications
• get birthday notifications
• …and much more

I have a somewhat complex sync setup. My scenario is using Outlook 2007 at work, synching through Plaxo to my Mac iCal and Address book, then synching through iTunes to my iPhone and back and forth. It took me a while to get it all dialed in but now it seems to work ok. (I’m also trying to add in a .Mac computer sync to see how that all works…) So now whenever I make a change to my main calendar, it syncs all the way across to my iPhone and back. It’s really great.

Current Issues:

One of my biggest complaints has been that my Alarms (if set in Outlook) do not transfer over Plaxo to my iCal nor back to my iPhone. Also, there seem some other issues that are popping up due to people’s recent Leopard upgrade. What I have heard about related to the latest build of Plaxo (v3 build 454):

• Missing Plaxo menu bar icon after install of Leopard (I did not have this problem)
• Erroneous data coming into some address book entries (not sure if I have this problem)
• Missing Plaxo panel and labels in the Apple Address Book application
• Missing “work” address in Address Book (fix in next release)
• Plaxo not starting on login despite settings telling it to start (I did not have this issue)
• “All Day Event” bug where events are all one day in advance (I do have this issue and it is very annoying) – might be a server issue and not Mac-specific
• Recurring events sometimes rescheduled 1 hour in advanced (unconfirmed)
• No support for new Leopard Apple Mail “Tasks” or “To-Dos”

Short-Term Fixes in the Works

My “source” at Plaxo has informed me that on Thursday, November 1st, a new release of Plaxo for the Mac is coming out to address numerous items. The release this coming Thursday will “resolve nearly all Leopard compatibility issues,” probably many that are listed in the list above. However, the release will NOT include the following (from my source):

1. Calendar folder mapping (which is making its debut in this release) will not be functional on Leopard – it will be fixed in the next update.
2. The Plaxo member icons do not show up in the Names list in Apple’s Address Book. Apple has changed things around in the Leopard Address Book internals which breaks this feature – we’re going to see what we can do.

At least Plaxo is aware of these issues and know of their importance.

Longer-Term Fixes

I have been told that Task synching with Leopard Apple Mail is in development and is slotted to be released near the end of November. This will be a nice addition to the entire process.

Notes and the ability to have Alarms sync across platforms is also in the works. The release date on those items is potentially the end of 2007, however the development path, I have been told, is “truly volatile at this point” which is a phrase that I understand all to well (I am a Director of an Engineering group). I’m trying to apply a little “pressure” to move the Alarm issue up in the priority queue, but my voice is small and may not be heard well.

Bottom Line
I still stand behind my views of Plaxo as being a solid and needed service, especially for people with multiple devices and platforms. Calendar and Contact management and synchronization are critical in this day and age, and Plaxo delivers what it promises, and more. You can go VERY far with the Free version. The Premium version just adds to it! Also of note, Plaxo has a GREAT iPhone interface at http://m.plaxo.com (works great on mobile devices in general).

HTD says: With or without Apple Leopard, definitely give Plaxo a try. I will update specifics to Leopard fixes and compatibility as I learn more!