WINDOWS CALENDAR

Sorry, I didn't know which category this would fall under, so I just came
here. I subsrcibed to a few calendars online, and I was just wondering: will
these calendars be automatically updated for me? What I'm trying to ask, is
I subscribed to 8 calendars (for my studies), and if the producer of those
calendars adds something to a calendar, will it automatically be updated for
me, or will I continuosly need to subscribe to that calendar?

Oh, and one more thing, is there any way for me to get a reminder of an
event on my desktop or something? Like, if I had something DUE on Tuesday,
would I be able to get a reminder for that assignment on Monday, or even
Sunday?

THANKS!!