LineSvit

When my previous beloved laptop broke, I had to buy new one. Vista-powered, of course, to understand how our software looks on users’ new computers, to see it with users’ eyes. That was horrible… I’ve understood, at last, what associations I have with the word “Vista”: Vista – West – Wild West – cowboys – guns – kill!

At first I see cute small calendar on my desktop and tiny slide show under it – they amuse me in such a way. Well, it’s pleasantly. And how does it work? It doesn’t work at all! The calendar is for appearance, its only option is to zoom in a date for people whose eyes are tired.  Hurrah, this means that our Screen Calendar will be of use for Vista admirers! Let’s install our calendar… Far from it! I am reported that I have trial version of Norton Antivirus for 90 days – it’s cool but it doesn’t allow me to run our calendar (the problem of protection and antivirus conflict). However hard I tried, I had to uninstall Norton Antivirus… It’s a pity, this program must be good…

I run Word to read a document, then I want to close this document – and I don’t know how to do this! Man alive! Where are the main menu and the word “File”? It turnes out that this word doesn’t exist at all! Music is music, document is document, and everybody who is used to Total Commanders must forget unnecessary words like “file”! On the whole, my first experience of using Vista has disappointed me very much. Maybe, I’ll get used to it in time…

We’ve been selling software for a long time, but we’ve never tried to sell services. And I think the time has come. Now we are launching a service of making interactive desktop calendar program.

Images, given by customer, are embedded to the calendar as wallpapers, and there is a possibility to set an appointed picture for each month (January – picture no.1, February – picture no.2 and so on), as for loose-leaf calendar. Calendar is fully-customizable: one can adjust calendars size and appearance, transparency degree (it can be completely transparent), size and look of cells, calendar’s arrangement on a desktop etc. Calendar has a full-functional task scheduler – to view notes and time-table, user should move mouse cursor to the date cell, notes will emerge as a hint. Double-click date cell to open scheduler and add note.

User enters his data directly in web-form on the site. He previews calendar on a desktop, adds his company's logo and ad info, adjusts and saves settings and orders the calendar, which he has made. Having paid for calendar, user receives URL with ready program via e-mail.

Result program has almost all options of Screen Calendar. That’s why we have another acute question – will the sales of Screen Calendar itself remain, or they will be eliminated by this service?

There is another aspect of problem of competing with ourselves: “Сalendar to order” service is based on Promo Screen Calendar software which costs no less than $489. Customer will have a choice: to order desktop calendar for $50-60 or buy license for software which can do such desktop calendar many times in many variations.

I bet that both the service and expensive tool Promo Screen Calendar will be bought because each user will choose what is more comfortably and profitably for him. In addition to direct profit, we will gain an experience in service providing – is it interesting for us and our customers? I promise to report the results to you – watch updates! :)

I had luck to be one of the first people who tried the newest version of Screen Calendar. Screen Calendar 7.4 remains a neat calendar program for creating desktop calendar with functions of task scheduler. But it is also iCal format compatible! That means you can import calendar events directly from iCalendar files instead of adding them manually. iCalendar format is rather popular now and you can find any iCalendar events lists – rugby fixtures, birthdays of Harry Potter’s friends, TV shows’ schedule, etc. So, now they can be added to your desktop calendar with some mouse-clicks. Screen Calendar allows subscribing to iCalendar source and updating it either automatically or manually, and importing events from a source to a desktop calendar. You can use both local and remote files as iCalendar sources. And you can export events from your desktop calendar to a local iCal file. It’s as easy as ABC and it saves your time. I’m pleased with the new abilities of my favorite desktop calendar.

1. The title of the ad calendar software will be:
Screen Calendar from <enter your registration name or your company>

This title will always be displayed in Setup window, so, when you client wants to adjust any option of the program (for example, he wants calendar to show weeks numbering), he will see program title with your company’s name.

2. There is a feature to embed your production’s images (or any nice pictures associated with your company) as desktop wallpapers. Besides, if you want desktop wallpaper of your client to be changed automatically every month on 1^st , you will be able to choose what picture will have to be on a desktop on 1^st March or 1^st April – just like a loose-leaf calendar. You surely know the pleasant feeling of novelty when, having turned a calendar leaf on 1^st, you seem that new life begins. Make this little surprise for your clients!

3. Calendar program with built in info of your company is a full-functional and handy PIM: double-click on a calendar to open task scheduler, and simply move your mouse cursor to needed date cell to read your note – it will emerge as a hint directly on the calendar.

4. Promo Screen Calendar makes a Setup File for easy installing calendar software with your ad. You will be able to create a setup file with any name (for example, calendar_from_your_name.exe), copy the one to CD or put it to your website and give its URL to your clients so that they can download and install calendar program with your ad, logo and info. You are not restricted in quantity of copies. Expenses for this advertising are minimal, but it is long-lasting and effective: your clients will use the handy and useful program with your logo during the whole year.

5. Promo Screen Calendar is a ready-to-use powerful marketing tool. You should only derive maximal benefit with minimal investments!

It was very interesting for me to read Olga’s last post about how the ideas of new software emerge. It’s especially interesting because I tried all the programs she wrote about. One of them, Screen Calendar, became a part of my desktop, a part my everyday time planning, and a part of my life. It excluded other PIMs I had before. Of course, there is nothing ideal in our world. I remember I was upset when Screen Calendar arranged my desktop icons automatically in such way that I thought I would never return them to the needed places. Nevertheless, having coped with my icons, I continued to use Screen Calendar and at least it became my “right hand”. It schedules my day, changes my wallpapers, and reminds me of my plans and events. Comparing Screen Calendar with the first calendar software (Calendar Wizard), I see great progress made by their developers, because Screen Calendar is a cool PIM rather than calendar. It’s really handy and nice-looking. And some words about Promo Screen Calendar. You’ve already understood that I’m in love with Screen Calendar :). So, if someone presented me such desktop calendar with his company’s logo (that’s what Promo SC provides), I would not only see this logo every time looking at my desktop, I would also think kindly of this person every time using Screen Calendar. It’s an ideal advertising, isn’t it? ;)

Once, by our partner’s request, we've developed easy and useful software to design calendar grids - Calendar Wizard (dehelp.com). It was in 2001. Then we've translated program interface into English, and it was our start in the foreign software market. Idea of the program was very good, its realization was refined, but instead of being showered with well-liked green banknotes, we were showered with e-mails containing requests to create “the same but even better” calendar. Foreign users wanted to have a calendar on a desktop, they needed pictures and embellishments. It seemed queer to us: “Is it possible that people are ready to pay for a calendar if it is on their desktops over wallpapers? After all, they ask. Why shouldn’t we try – we are enthusiastic more than enough and full of desire to understand other’s mentality – so, let’s work!” We’ve released the first version of Screen Calendar software (screencalendar.com) in 2002.

The main point of Screen Calendar Software is an interactive calendar on a desktop. It is full-customizable calendar software with user-friendly interface which can be understood intuitively. Full-functional PIM (scheduler of events, tasks, meetings), a lot of calendar settings (size, transparency, week numbering etc.), automatic change of backgrounds in given time period, record view directly on a desktop (moving mouse cursor to needed date cell) – it’s only brief review of program’s functions. The program is continually improved, but the main idea remains unchanged: real users’ needs are the basis of Screen Calendar software.

Success of the program inspired us to go further. We had a lot of requests to develop calendar software with the option of embedding user’s own images as wallpapers for his client’s desktop – for example, it was necessary for photographers, design studios, realty agencies, traveling agencies. So, they needed a non-typical marketing tool. That’s how the idea of Promo Screen Calendar service emerged. This service was offered not only to English-speaking customers, it also went on sale in the native market, because goods and services in our market need non-standard promotion methods as well as in foreign one. How Promo Screen Calendar works

Free trial version of this software can be sent at your request.

We have some calendars 2008 which can be used for your Christmas calendar to present to your friends. All these samples were made by Helen with our calendar software (read her perfect Calendar Wizard review in a previous post).
Please look at the calendar list and choose any one (xls, jpg or html format) to download and make some modifications with any graphic editor.

Click here to download Calendar Wizard software

You can purchase Calendar Wizard software just now for only $29.95!