You can set a quasi "default" to-do. A to-do in iCal remains in the to-do list until you check it as completed, then it disappears according a time you set in iCal preferences. But if you leave a to-do unchecked, it stays.
Setting up a to-do is pretty easy. Here's how:
1) If the to-do section of iCal isn't already open, press the push-pin icon on the lower right portion of iCal.
2) Double click anywhere in the white area and a fresh to-do pop up window will appear.
3) Type a name for the to-do (i.e., "Take Meds") and put in a check mark next to due date. The current date will appear by default.
4) Click the menu next to alarm and select the type of alarm you want (sound, message, both, email, etc.), then choose "same day" from the pop list and choose the time you want the alarm to go off. That's it. Close the to-do pop window and you're done. Your new to-do will appear in the to-do section (the white area on the right) of iCal.
As long as you don't check it off as completed, it will remain there forever. So the next time you want to set an alarm, double click your med taking to-do and select a new time. The only caveat worth mentioning is you should pay attention to the due date of the to-do as subsequent days pass. I've never set a single rolling to-do like this, so I don't know if it will automatically update itself to reflect the current date as each day passes - you may have to update the due-date each day when you set a new alarm. Or maybe not. I don't know.
Regarding Tiger, your husband's experience is definitely not the norm. If anything, moving from Panther to Tiger should result in a slight speed increase, especially in the Finder. Nothing jaw-dropping, but nonetheless noticeable. Generally, the Finder should seem more a little more responsive in Tiger than it was in Panther, and your applications should be no less than a wash speed-wise under Tiger compared with the same in Panther.
Basically, if you have an unmodified installation of Panther (i.e., no haxies or application enhancers AND all Apple installed applications and files remain in their original locations) AND your current Panther set-up is completely up to date, problem-free and everything "just works" as expected, then you should have zero issues upgrading to Tiger.
You will need a retail version of Tiger. A Tiger installation disk that shipped with another computer will not work. Insert the disk, click the icon to begin the installation, and after your computer restarts, select basic upgrade from the installation options (forget the mumbo-jumbo you may have seen here and elsewhere - if your Panther installation is as described above, basic upgrade will get the job done just fine).
A few tips: After the Tiger installation is finished and you restart your computer, Spotlight is going to build a search database for all of your files. Although you can use your computer while this is going on, it will seem slow and not very responsive, as the database building process is fairly CPU-intensive. Give your CPU a break and let Spotlight finish completely before you start using the computer, and Spotlight will finish the job faster. You can monitor Spotlight's progress by clicking the Spotlight icon in the menu bar. A drop down window will tell you how far along Spotlight is and it also provides an estimate on when it will finish. Count on a half-hour to 45 mins depending on how full your hard drive is. When Spotlight finishes, the first thing to do is run software update. Download and install any updates for Tiger (10.4.6 as of now). Recent Tiger updates include changes to Spotlight, so the database will be rebuilt once again. Same drill as before - let it finish before you use the computer
The other thing is memory - RAM. As with Panther, the more you have, the better. 512 meg with Tiger should be considered the minimum amount, more is better.
If you do eventually move up to Tiger, you now have dashboard and access to hundreds of freebe widgets, including
this one which automatically sets an iCal alarm for you, all you do is tell it when and give it a description; or
this alarm which is seperate from iCal, or this rather
nifty-looking digital stopwatch/timer.
