Second Gear (http://secondgearllc.com) has released Today 2.2, an update of the US$15 Mac OS X application for managing iCal events and tasks. The new version adds support for viewing and creating data using Microsoft Exchange, the collaborative email and calendaring solution used in many businesses.

Exchange supports requires taking advantage of Mac OS X 10.6’s native Exchange support in iCal and Mail. Today 2.2 also has several small user interface enhancements. For example, hovering over an event’s title will now display its location and calendar colors are now apparent when creating new events or tasks.

Today distinguishes between different events based on the calendar color you define in iCal. Assign a keyboard shortcut, and you can toggle Today’s visibility in a split second. Adding new events and tasks can be accomplished in the same way. You can also schedule next week’s meeting or a quick task in Today. No iCal required.

It synchronizes calendar information from an iPhone and iPod touch and synchronizes between multiple Macs using .Mac. Today also works with Mac OS X 10.5’s (“Leopard”) system-wide calendar store

It requires Leopard. Today is Universal Binary so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs. It costs US$21.95, Family pack licenses, which cover up to five computers in one household, are $34.95. Upgrades from earlier versions of Today are $11.95, and free to users who purchased after Nov.1, 2009. A 14-day fully-functioning demo of Today is available at the Second Gear site.