Hello Everyone, 

One of my favorite features in Microsoft Outlook is the ability to view only upcoming (active) appointments in the calendar. 

Apparently, Apple does not think I need this feature in the latest version of iCal.  (grimace)

While there are certainly some very fine third-party applications that will allow me to see only upcoming appointments, I am of the opinion that less is better; therefore, I resist installing such applications unless absolutely necessary.  Besides, there is no guaranty that said third-party applications, for which I may have to pay a premium, will be VoiceOver (Apple’s software screen reading solution for the blind and low vision) accessible. 

Enter the Mac OS X Lion Dashboard of which I am growing quite fond, and all its marvelous, and for the most part free, widgets.

It is with such a widget that we can view only upcoming or active appointments.

Oh, keep in mind that iCal refers to appointments as events. 

Let’s get started.

1.
Download and install a free Mac OS Dashboard widget called iCal Events.  Its description is as follows: 
iCal Events… Face the day! Always know what’s next on your schedule using iCal Events. iCal Events displays upcoming events from multiple iCal calendars in a beautiful, resizable widget for Dashboard. You can see up to two weeks of upcoming events in the same widget without needing to open iCal.

2.
After installing the widget, I suggest that you close the web browser used to download the widget.

3.
Now go to the Dashboard and see the widget in action.  I suggest using the key combination [Option+LeftArrow] to quickly jump to the Dashboard.  Please note that you can change the number of days shown in the widget by clicking on the Info button.

Enjoy,

Mark