More about .Mac
Mac Tip #115/20-Aug-2003
Instant Web Page, Mac Tip #107/25-June-2003, mentioned Apple’s .Mac service. This used to be called iTools and was once upon a time free. However, times changed and now it costs US$100 per year to use the service.
That’s quite a bit of money and you’ll be wondering why you might choose to sign up.
[Update 2009: this service is now called MobileMe and may offer different features. ]
If you become a .Mac member you have a free email account. Mine’s mirazjordan@mac.com. [Update: this email address no longer works.]
You can use regular email software such as Eudora, Outlook Express, Apple Mail, Entourage to send and receive messages. You can also use any web browser anywhere in the world to send and receive mail.
Just log in www.mac.com and click on Mail. This is very handy for travellers. You can even check email for another email account through .Mac.
Of course it’s annoying to not have your email addresses around when you’re doing email through an Internet cafe or a friend’s computer. If you synchronise your Apple Address Book (OS X) with your .Mac account though your whole address book is right there online. Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean the world can read it — you have to use your password to get at it.
While you’re using that other computer you might also like to check some of your favourite websites. Don’t know the addresses? Well, with .Mac you can synchronise your Safari Bookmarks and access them from anywhere in the world.
Perhaps you run the local Cat Appreciation Society? You can share a schedule of all the meetings via your .Mac account and iCal. You can see my published schedule of the training courses I run at www.icalx.com/html/miraz/TrainingCourses. [Update: this calendar is no longer being published.] That particular calendar isn’t published on .Mac for various reasons, but it lets you see how it works.
I use .Mac for daily backups of some crucial documents. I do regular backups to CD and iPod of all my photos and the websites I create and so on, but I’d be lost without my calendar, address book and accounts.
These items are set to back up to .Mac every day at 8 am. I don’t even need to think about it. Apple’s Backup software handles that task with ease, and only works if you have a .Mac account.
Along with these advantages my .Mac subscription has given me some free software, both games and utilities, web pages, storage for files and various other benefits.
If you haven’t thought about subscribing to .Mac it is worth considering. You can find out more from Apple at www.mac.com. There’s a 60 day free trial, so you have nothing to lose.
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