[Macpartners] TechTime on Oracle Calendar Desktop clients released to MIT

[Jonathan McIndoe Hunt]

Date: Thursday, 4 December 2003
To: itpartners, macpartners, winpartners, sw-release-announce, ed-tech
Cc: itag, infosys, fss
From: TechTime Product Release Team <techtime-release at mit.edu>
Subject: TechTime on Oracle Calendar Desktop clients released to MIT

Information Systems is pleased to announce the availability and support of 
the Macintosh and Windows desktop clients for TechTime on Oracle Calendar 
9.0.4.  Linux and Unix clients are available through AFS.

TechTime is MIT's implementation of Oracle Calendar, an integrated 
campus-wide calendaring system. With TechTime you can manage your own 
schedule and also coordinate easily with the schedules of other TechTime 
users. TechTime is available to any member of the MIT community with a 
Kerberos username and password. Access to TechTime is through either the 
web client, which can be used with just about any web browser, or through 
the desktop client on Macintosh, Windows or Linux systems. All methods of 
access provide for secure authentication and data encryption. This service 
is provided by Information Systems to users, through an MIT site license.

Note on Support
--------------------------
At this time, Information Systems fully supports the web client and the 
desktop clients for TechTime on Oracle Calendar.

This release of the TechTime desktop clients does not include support for 
synchronization of TechTime with PDAs or Outlook Connector. A release 
effort is under way to develop support for the Oracle Calendar PDA 
synchronization clients and Outlook Connecter. Members of the MIT community 
interested in participating in this release effort should contact the 
TechTime release team at techtime-release at mit.edu.


About TechTime on Oracle Calendar 9.0.4 Desktop Client
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The MIT TechTime on Oracle Calendar installers incorporate server settings 
pre-configured for MIT use, and user preferences, as follows:

-- Default server set to be MIT TechTime.
-- Optional server included for testing, MIT TechTime (Development).
-- In-tray is off by default.
-- Default reminders turned off.

Features
--------------
With TechTime on the web or using the desktop client you can:

-- Look at the calendars and schedules of other TechTime users.
-- Control how much of your calendar information others can view.
-- Create groups for scheduling meetings.
-- Suggest meeting times to group members, and check for conflicts; group 
members can accept or decline suggested times.
-- View your calendar, task lists, and daily notes in various formats.
-- Set priorities and due dates for meetings and tasks.
-- Set "Designate Rights" for another person to work in your calendar.

Features available only with the Oracle Calendar desktop client:

-- Work off-line with calendar information stored on your computer.
-- Create Address Book entries for business and personal contacts, 
including dates and notes for each entry.
-- An In-tray lets you display and manage entries you have accepted, sent 
out, and refused.
-- Download and upload calendar information to local files; import and 
export information to email and other applications.
-- Search agendas and on-line directories.
-- More printing options.
-- Customized views.

Who Should Install
------------------------------
If you are currently using TechTime through the web client and are 
satisfied with its functions and how it operates, you do not need to 
install the desktop client on your computer. After reviewing the features 
of the desktop client you may decide that it best fits your needs. If you 
decide to install the desktop client, you can use the web client and the 
desktop client interchangeably. When you are logged into the MIT TechTime 
server, you can reconcile the entries in your calendar between the two 
clients so that they agree with each other.

System Requirements/MIT Recommendations
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To use TechTime you must first activate your account. With a web browser on 
which you have an MIT personal certificate, go to the TechTime Account 
Activation page at 
<http://calendar.mit.edu/register>http://calendar.mit.edu/register and 
click the Activate button.

Macintosh:
-- Operating system: Mac OS 10.2 or later
-- Note: MIT does not support the TechTime Oracle Calendar Desktop Client 
on Mac OS 9.

Windows:
-- Operating system: Windows 2000 Professional with Service Pack 4, XP 
Professional with Service Pack 1
-- Note: While the TechTime Oracle Calendar Desktop Client for Windows will 
operate on earlier versions, only the versions above are supported by 
Information Systems.

Both platforms:
-- Kerberos (or Kerberos Extras for Mac OS X 10.2 and later)


Known Issues
----------------------
-- On the Macintosh, TechTime on Oracle Calendar has been fully tested on 
systems up to Mac OS 10.2.8. No problems have been reported with new or 
easy installs on Mac OS 10.3. Problems have been encountered when upgrading 
to Mac OS 10.3 and the previous Mac OS X was archived, and when Oracle 
Calendar was installed under the previous Mac OS X: you may not be able to 
launch TechTime after the upgrade.
-- TechTime does not currently work in the win.mit.edu Windows domain.  The 
problem is being investigated and we hope to have a solution soon.
-- "Resources" are not supported at this time, unless your department has a 
designated TechTime Liaison. For more information contact 
techtime-release at mit.edu.
-- TechTime on Oracle Calendar may unexpectedly quit. This seems to be due 
to a very brief break in the network connection. Testing indicates that no 
data or entries are affected by such disconnects.
-- On the Macintosh desktop client, there is a bug in the Preferences > 
Entry Defaults > Meetings settings. If you uncheck Default Reminders for 
Meetings to turn off reminders, it rechecks itself after you quit Oracle 
Calendar and sign in again.

Where to Get TechTime Desktop Clients
--------------------------------------------------------------
-- The MIT installers for the Macintosh and Windows desktop clients are 
available at http://web.mit.edu/software (certificates required).
-- Desktop clients for Linux and UNIX systems are available through AFS; 
contact techtime-release at mit.edu for details.

Documentation
-----------------------
-- MIT documentation is available at 
http://web.mit.edu/is/services/calendaring/techtime.html
-- Both the web and the desktop clients provide detailed and comprehensive 
on-line help for the various features and functions.

Getting Help
-------------------
If you have questions or need assistance with installing the TechTime 
desktop clients, or using the web or desktop clients, contact the MIT IS 
Computing Help Desk:
-- computing-help at mit.edu
-- 617-253-1101 (x3-1101)
-- http://web.mit.edu/is/helpdesk

TechTime on Oracle Calendar Product Release Team
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jonathan Hunt, Coordinator
Deb Bowser
Atticus Gifford
John Hose
Lee Ridgway