Time Palette 5.01
Review

Time Palette 5.01
Trygve Inda
Price: $29.95
http://www.timepalette.com

What time is it? What’s it like outside? Where am I?

Those nagging questions, which we all ask ourselves numerous times each day, can be answered by Time Palette, a time application for the Macintosh.

Time Palette is billed by the author, Trygve Inda, as the premier world time tool for Macintosh. He is probably correct. This is an extremely full-featured program. It has so many capabilities that one of it’s few drawbacks is that the new user needs to read the Help files to be able to use more than a few basic capabilities of the software.

Time Palette runs on Mac OS X natively, as well as OS 8.6 or above. I tested Time Palette on a dual 800 PowerMac G4 desktop system.

I downloaded Time Palette with no trouble from the www.timepalette.com web site, and unstuffed it using StuffIt Expander. The application launches quickly, and presents the usual shareware registration screen. In a nice touch, the demo mode has almost all features enabled. Maps have “Evaluation copy” displayed.

I was initially surprised to find that the Apple Help Viewer loaded when I started Time Palette for the first time. Not realizing the importance of the Help file for this program, I put it in the background. In true Macintosh fashion, I did not take the time to peruse the ReadMe file.

That, I quickly realized, was a mistake.

Time Palette is not your average alarm clock or reminder program. This is a powerful application with many, many features. The user interface is well-crafted, but there is so much going on amongst the 9 different panels, that you need to spend a few minutes going through the extremely well done Help file. Once you understand the basics of how to configure Time Palette, the interface is easy to use. But you will probably become frustrated if you just jump right into the program, and start clicking aimlessly as you try to find out the time and weather in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Take a few minutes, as the author recommends, to understand the basics of how Time Palette works, and you will save 30 minutes of frustration.

I tried to imagine how I would have designed a simpler interface that incorporates all the features and capabilities of Time Palette, and I could not come up with a better one.

Here is a partial list of some of Time Palette’s features:

  • Full native support for Mac OS X and 8.6+.
  • Favorites feature to keep track of frequently used cities.
  • Photo-realistic earth renderings with moonlight and city lights.
  • Support for newly revised Daylight Saving Time systems.
  • Live display of selected information for each Atlas entry.
  • Twilight graphs depict daily solar conditions for any city.
  • Info Panel replaces Events window with a modern interface.
  • Alarms panel includes 12 alarms and displays local time.
  • Scheduler supports 6 time zones and an elapsed time calculator.
  • Almanac now includes monthly sun and moon rise/set tables.
  • Almanac calculates Sidereal Time for astronomy applications.
  • Distance panel allows for open-jaw and multiple segment trips.
  • Real-time weather conditions for thousands of cities.
  • Depiction of the current areas of day, twilight, night and moonlight on two different world maps.
  • Eleven different map projections.Alarms. Twelve independent alarms can be set for any time zone.

    Schedules. Conference calls which span the world can be placed at the right time so that it’s convenient for everyone, be they in New York, London or Karachi. Elapsed time between events is also shown.

    Almanac. Complete details on sunrise/set and moonrise/set are displayed for any city and date along with the phase of the moon, hours of daylight, lighting conditions and the local apparent sidereal time.

    Distance Calculating mileage between any city. Time Palette’s Distance panel also handles open-jaw trips.

    Weather. Time Palette’s weather feature brings you weather information from NOAA. Updated frequently throughout the day, reports give you access to current weather conditions around the world.

    As you can see, this is not your average alarm clock. Many users will find this to be overkill. Time Palette is useful for people who need to know times, weather conditions, and distances between many locations. I personally find the graphic display of light and dark across the globe to be very interesting and useful. Time Palette also does mileage calculations, although the interface is a bit confusing. Again, once you have read the Help file, the setup for mileage data is quick,if not perfectly intuitive.

    The Time Palette package is very complete, with logical and comprehensive Apple Help Viewer files, a detailed ReadMe, and a link to the Time Palette web site. The feel and finish of all the components is as good as any commercial software package.

    If your time information requirements are light, Time Palette may not be for you. If you need powerful time, location, and almanac information for anywhere on Earth, this is the program for you. Invest a few minutes to learn the interface, and you will have a powerful tool at your disposal.

    MacMice Rating: 4 out of 5


    David Weeks

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