Hundreds of millions use Google and Yahoo for their email, address book, and calendaring, and there was no way to integrate these services with Apple’s iCal and Address Book software. It’s now very easy under Mac OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard.
To integrate your address book, simply open Address Book’s preferences from the Address Book menu on top of your screen. Click on the Accounts item at the top of the window that pops open, and then click on the boxes next to the various synchronization options. Unsurprisingly, you can sync with MobileMe in addition to Google and Yahoo.
iCal is configured in a similar way. Select Preferences from the iCal menu, click on Accounts, and follow the instructions. You’ll be asked to specify the account type (CalDAV, Exchange, Google, or Yahoo).
Of course, making a change in the web interface of any of these services will result in your iApps updating themselves on next launch. It works the other way, just as expected. Google’s web interfaces tend to be elegant and functional, but lack the simplicity of iCal and Address Book that I like so much. This was a very welcome addition to the operating system, and is just one more reason to upgrade to Snow Leopard!