some advice about email clients/calendars

[Generic User #2]

anyhow, i've been doing some 'house-cleaning' on the various apps and crap i have on my computer. through this process, i 'found' outlook and realized how i never ever used this thing. as well, life has been hectic and i've been overwhelmed with various engagements and feel like i need to make use of the comp's calendar to keep everything in-order.

so ya...bascially, i'm asking for opinions on what people use as email clients and calendars.

the requirements are:
e-mail client - this is a DESKTOP application that accesses my online hotmail account. it doesn't have to really do much except serve as an interface to my email account. it should be able to login to my email account for me and run the normal functions through the app(as opposed to though my browser). this will let me 'power-use' my email account on my own comps, while still being able to access my emails when i'm on someone else's comp.

calendar - likewise with the email, i MUST be able to use this on my computer as well as others'. preferably not requiring me to open my browser on my own comp. i just need basic functionality....being able to schedule events. having reminders enabled wouldn't be too shabby either. being able to work on the iphone would be great too....(i don't have it atm - stupid cellphone contracts - but i don't feel like paying for mobileme when i do get it. just as a note, i don't need any sort of pull/push functionality)

*i apologize if i've been thinking of all this the wrong way, i've never used outlook or any sort of calendar app ever...

**also, i think both of these functions are usually bound together in one program

[TopDogZero]

Are you talking about Outlook Express or Outlook that comes with MS office. The full version with Office is much better with a good Calender built in. If you don't have Office give Thunderbird a try Thunderbird - Reclaim your inbox.

By the way I think your user name is a HOOT .

[Generic User #2]

haha, thanks :D i like my username too lol.

anyhow, i THINK i've got this worked out...thunderbird 2.0 synced to gmail and google calendar. i'm researching it as i type. i can fire up thunderbird on my desktop and use gmail and gcalendar(i'm sure theres an addon/greasemonkey script that'll let me run them both on one page).