Software and Technology Ramblings

Just a quick note on a surprising feature of Apple Mail and iCal. After I upgraded to Leopard, I noted that some items in my email (addresses, dates, times, etc) had contextual menus appear when you rolled over them. The menus let you create a contact or an iCal event from the data in the email. But, again, Apple surprises with attention to the smallest details. For example, I was emailed this simple confirmation for an upcoming meeting:







When I rolled over the 6:00, the menu appeared and selected Create New iCal Event…. A little pop-up appeared and I began filling it out. When I went to choose the date, to my surprise, it was already selected:







It scoped out the rest of the message to find the mention of Thursday to select the 20th.

The ability to add an iCal event from an email message isn’t what makes a Mac fantastic. It’s the fact that the functionality does not get in your way and when you choose to use the feature, it works as you’d expect… and better.