People give Microsoft Outlook a lot of crap, but if you’re willing to think outside the box, you’ll realize they did all the little things that make life easy.  For instance, I rarely use the calendar popup for creating new appointments.  No, if I have a meeting next Wednesday, I type “next wed” and hit tab.  It’s at 1pm, well, type 1 and hit tab.

Done.

New Appt. Screenshot