What is Barca ?

[saoir]

I have downloaded and installed Barca and am trying to understand what it is for ? it loks like Pocomail but with a calendar added ? is this right ?
I imported my files from Pocomail to try it out but it did not import my skins/styles/settings...
Can someone explain what it is intended to be used for ?

[Sandy]

You have it about right. One can also think of it as a simplied replacement or alternative to using Outlook -- not with all the bells and whistles, but also not with many of Outlooks problems and complexity. Barca is probably all many, if not most, people need rather than simply default to using Outlook.

[robin]

I imported my files from Pocomail to try it out but it did not import my skins/styles/settings...

Skins etc are disabled in the current version - I think that integrating them into the new interface is not on the priority list at the moment.

[GHaavy]

... but it's still on a list somewhere, right??

- Grant

[Slaven]

Right!

[saoir]

You have it about right. One can also think of it as a simplied replacement or alternative to using Outlook -- not with all the bells and whistles, but also not with many of Outlooks problems and complexity. Barca is probably all many, if not most, people need rather than simply default to using Outlook.

Hmmm... I'm still very confused as to what benefit this being a new separate product has... if it is basically Pocomail with a calendar...

[GHaavy]

Hi saoir,

Jim says it best (taken from "Barca improvements in the pipeline?" thread):

Thank you for your interest in our products. Barca encompasses the well recognized features in PocoMail plus personal information management features. We designed Barca to meet the needs of small/medium sized businesses and professionals. In this regards, besides the ability to create personal appointments/meetings and tasks with reminders, Barca allows you to create group appointment/meeting and invite others to an event complete with auto-addition to each invitee’s calendar and auto-notification of the status of each invitee being sent to the event creator. Furthermore, you can create group task and assign it to your co-workers. You can also import/export calendars information into/out of Barca. Other features that distinguish Barca from PocoMail can be found in the Barca’s features section of our site http://www.pocosystems.com/barca. After taking competitive and practical factors into consideration, we are convinced that Barca is selling at a discount relative to PocoMail, and competing products.

A number of enhancements are planned for Barca (some of which are already in development). This includes PDA synchronization, enhancement of the task feature, more integration between Planner and calendar, and a number of items that our users have requested.

Regards,


Grant

[robin]

Hmmm... I'm still very confused as to what benefit this being a new separate product has... if it is basically Pocomail with a calendar...

Sounds like it is not for you then, saoir. That being the case then stick with PocoMail - it is still being developed - it is not being dumped for Barca. It works for me, provides me with a central location for calender and all the other stuff, allows me to send appointments to the other half etc etc.

[saoir]

Sounds like it is not for you then, saoir. That being the case then stick with PocoMail - it is still being developed - it is not being dumped for Barca. It works for me, provides me with a central location for calender and all the other stuff, allows me to send appointments to the other half etc etc.

Hmmm not completely true... but the problem was and is that the web site does not really explain what the program does and who should be using it and for what. I use Palm Desktop for my calendar and would be interested if Barca did the same and tied in with Pocomail etc.... but as you say it is still being developed and the company haven't really sat down and written a proper promo detailing it's capability.

[Eric]

Hi saoir,
Glad to see you again.
As for Barca you could always download and try it out, so you'll know if it fits your needs.

I use Palm Desktop for my calendar

I'm using Palm Desktop too.

would be interested if Barca did the same and tied in with Pocomail etc....

What do you mean exactly by and tied in with Pocomail etc ...?

[GHaavy]

PDA synchronization is what I'm looking forward to the most (along with some bug fixes... and skin support, of course )

- Grant

[robin]

... but the problem was and is that the web site does not really explain ... who should be using it and for what.

IMHO that is what the user needs to define, not PSI. Everyone will be using it differently. I use the e-mail client (of course, since it is built on PocoMail), I also use the calendaring (particularly the ability to exchange info with Outlook), the tasks and the diary entries just like I might write entries in a paper diary.

Welcome to the newly released and eagerly anticipated Barca - a powerful tool that lets you unite all your important information in one program. Utilize its powerful yet flexible Calendar, Tasks and Planner to schedule events, powerful email engine that makes PocoMail tick, popup Notes to gather information and Diary to keep track of your daily activities; all united with a smart interface that actually encourages you to use the full power of Barca.

* Plan your daily duties with the Calendar, in day, work week, week, month and year views
* See the big picture and upcoming multi-day events with the Planner, with quarterly and yearly views
* See the upcoming Calendar and Planner events at a glance with the Today screen.
* Assign and share appointments and tasks with your coworkers
* Use handy Barca Sections displayed in the sidebar to streamline your work, including the current month with overview of appointments
* Customize your Barca Shortcuts to have all your important mailboxes within easy reach
* Get your Email right, with all the advantages of using PocoMail's powerful email engine, including virus and privacy protection, Bayesian filtering, Newsgroup support, and many more
* Create Appointments and Tasks directly from your email
* Use popup Notes to jot down quick memos, with the ability to email them quickly
* Use Diary to track information on long-term projects

Frankly, this quote from the web site seems to be quite clear to me.

[saoir]

Hi saoir,
Glad to see you again.
As for Barca you could always download and try it out, so you'll know if it fits your needs.

As I said above.. done that ....

would be interested if Barca did the same and tied in with Pocomail etc....

What do you mean exactly by and tied in with Pocomail etc ...?

It was just a statement of principle... in response to a query above about my level of interest.

[saoir]

... but the problem was and is that the web site does not really explain ... who should be using it and for what.

IMHO that is what the user needs to define, not PSI.

On the contrary - if the company want to sell it they need to identify this and 'sell' it's capabilities.

Everyone will be using it differently. I use the e-mail client (of course, since it is built on PocoMail), I also use the calendaring (particularly the ability to exchange info with Outlook), the tasks and the diary entries just like I might write entries in a paper diary.

Yes but what's the advantage to using a 3rd party calendar.....

Frankly, this quote from the web site seems to be quite clear to me.

Seems very inadequate to me, sorry. The whole list adds up to simply a Calendar appoinment bolt-on similar to PalmDiary software.
NOT that I'm knocking it for that.... but surely it must add something..... like a live one-click access to all email from-to a contact or.... to last ten emails from-to a contact... accessible from the Contact list or from an appointment containinga hot link to a contact.....
I can't see any such added value and am confused as to why anyone would buy it.

[Sandy]

I've got to agree with robin here.

PSI's webpage surely does an adequate job of laying out the basic capabilities of Barca. My guess, saoir, is that it seems inadequate to you perhaps because you are looking for something specific you want such a piece of software (i.e., Outlook-like time and email management) to do and you are not seeing it on the list.

As robin suggests, if the info on PSIs website doesn't peak your interest, the product is probably not for you; if OTOH it does peak your interest, then the best way to find out if Barca meets your needs is to download the evaluation version and give it a whirl (obviously a VERY common practice in the world of software marketing).