Free Universal Contact Management with Plaxo

Even with a free account, the new Plaxo is amazing. However…

I never heard back from Plaxo VIP support on my two requests RE: iCal syncing problems. I’m a bit disappointed, because I even went through the VIP form and didn’t receive an answer within 24 hours (per their promise). I thought that was a part of my $49 registration fee?

No matter, here’s the problem: Plaxo was promoting an older Plaxo OS X app when I first downloaded it after logging in to the new beta the other day. The app told me that no new updates were available for it. Well, I went back to Plaxo.com and re-downloaded the DMG last night, and lo and behold - it was a COMPLETELY new version.

iCal now syncs perfectly with Plaxo, but I’m guessing the old app is incorrectly informing users that there is no update available. Not sure where the wires got crossed, but I’d bet I’m not the only person who has run into this problem.

Despite this self-corrected problem, Plaxo remains absolutely indispensible. It’s the true missing link for all of my data - the primary calendars in Google, Outlook, and iCal are seamlessly connected (although Plaxo isn’t lifting my iCal Birthdays calendar as of yet). Moreover, I don’t have to install iTunes on Windows to get my calendar and contacts from Outlook to the iPhone - this, more than any other reason, is a selling point for Plaxo.

The desktop software, on both Outlook and OS X, still leaves MUCH to be desired - but its core functionality is solid. I’ve been waiting for this kind of service for so many years.