I don’t remember whether I had had trouble with the previous version (which I tested on the G3 clamshell, so it doesn’t mean much) or I just hadn’t realized there was a free mode, but iCalViewer [via] has just been updated for Tiger and it’s a must-have for anyone using iCal.

iCalViewer displays all upcoming iCal events on a configurable time period, and displays them in a window, on the desktop, or on a layer above your screensaver — and it seems to consume much less CPU cycles than the iCal Events widget. And it does all this for free; the registered version only adds a peudo-Exposé mode (that’s unneeded because the desktop layer appears when you press F11) and to-do list display (which I don’t need, and it’s so simple anyway that there are tons of widgets and utilities doing it).

Strongly recommended.