Blackberry Desktop Manager for Mac

It doesn't seem to be officially released by RIM yet, but it's in the wild and it works. It knows about different calendars and contact groups and it makes sensible decisions about what to do ye default and if it gets it wrong, no big deal as you just change it.

It will sync Calendars with iCal and Contacts with Address book, Notes can come from Apple Mail Note or Entourage (if it's installed) and Tasks from iCal. It will also sync music from iTunes (via playlists or all of it).

The software can be set-up for fast syncing (i.e. it will only be used with that computer) or multiple sync (where the Blackberry will be sync'ed with multiple Macs - which is slower). It also uses Apple's sync services which means it should play well with other sync programs (like Mobile Me).

Google Sync (on the Blackberry) confused things, but removing it and leaving syncing to Blackberry Desktop Manager cured that.

The Music Sync section even shows how much memory is available and what can be used for music/video etc. It's all very well put together.

Of course there's the obligatory Backup and Restore so the device memory can be saved on the Mac (well the application data anyway).

There's also a software update (for the Blackberry Desktop Manager itself) and for the software on the Blackberry including the system software. Applications can also be installed and removed via the app.

It might be a good idea to wait for RIM to officially release Blackberry Desktop Manager for Mac (the Blackberry site states September) but the one out in the wild seems to be the official thing.