Holiday update files 2007-2009 for Outlook and Palm

Please don't laugh at me, but I still use Outlook 2000. Why? well, it works, and my motto is, don't fix what works. I don't believe in updating for updating's sake. What I DID notice is that I didn't have the usual holy week holidays listed in my Outlook calendar. Upon closer inspection, my preset holidays stopped on December 31, 2006. I decided at that point to create a new holiday file. After investigating it further, I was not happy with any I was finding on the web, so I would have to create one to satisfy me and the needs of the people I support.

My efforts led me to creating a file from various sources, with 61 holidays including most US holidays, most Christian holidays and most Jewish holidays. I even included a few major Muslim holidays for some of my Muslim friends. I also discovered that there are 3 different file formats, all very close but with some subtle differences. Here's how to create your own holiday file.

For Outlook, first you will need to find your outlook.txt (OL2000) or outlook.hol (OL2002/2003) files. Then download either outlook.txt or outlook.hol file and replace your current file with the new one. Then go into Outlook, choose Tools > Options > Calendar Options, and click the Add Holidays button. If you are using a MAC and Entourage, you'll use holidays.txt. For more complete step-by-step instructions, visit this site for free downloads, including a holiday file for Palm Desktop! These files cover 61 holidays for 2007, 2008, and 2009.

Jeff Gross