The .Mac to MobileMe transition: what you need to know

[AppleInsider]

When Apple rolls out its new MobileMe internet service early next month, it will completely replace the company's existing .Mac service. Many features will continue to function the same way they do today, some will change, and others will disappear completely. Here's what you need to know.

For starters, anyone with a .Mac subscription will be automatically upgraded to MobileMe and see their iDisk storage doubled from 10GB to 20GB at no additional cost -- though Apple warns that it may take up to 10 days before the additional space is reflected for all users. An email will be sent out to all .Mac subscribers ahead of the service change.

Once upgraded, users will be under no obligation to stop using their .Mac email address or their .Mac email aliases, both of which will continue to function indefinitely, as will .Mac iChat login IDs. In addition to their mac.com email address, users will also get an address at me.com with the same username and an iChat ID at me.com with the same user name.

Similarly, .Mac website URLs and Web Galleries URLs will continue to function as they do today, but will also be accessible from me.com. For example, both web.mac.com/john_smith/ and web.me.com/john_smith/ will both point to the same web directory. Users who have their own personal domain name pointing to their .Mac web directory will also not need to make any changes.

Emails stored on .Mac, as well as files on a .Mac iDisk and Backups to a .Mac iDisk will all be accessible from MobileMe and continue to function as they do today. Some other features, however, will be discontinued such as iCards, .Mac slides, and support for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther sync.

Apple will also discontinue Web access to bookmarks on June 30, 2008, after which users will no longer be able to access or update their bookmarks at .Mac. To avoid losing any existing .Mac Bookmarks, Apple recommends that .Mac users sync them with Safari on a Mac before June 30.



Bookmark sync between Macs and/or PCs will not be discontinued, as MobileMe will continue to sync bookmarks across computers as well as push them to the iPhone and iPod touch.

On a Mac, MobileMe will require the latest versions of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, and either Safari 3 or Firefox 2. Windows PCs will be able to access MobileMe from Safari 3, Firefox 2 or Internet Explorer 7. iPhone features will require iPhone Software 2.0.

Additional information is available via Apple's .Mac Transition Overview and the MobileMe Guided Tour. Prospective subscribers can also sign up to receive a notification email when the MobileMe service goes live.

Update: Readers in the AppleInsider forums ask if they can purchase the current editions of .Mac at the discount price of $69.99 ($124.99 for the Family Pack) from Amazon.com and then have their account upgraded to MobileMe.

Apple say, "Yes. Just go to www.mac.com/activate and enter your code to get started. Your account will be automatically upgraded to MobileMe when it becomes available."

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[ZagMac]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Some other features, however, will be discounted such as iCards, .Mac slides, and support for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther sync.

Apple will also discontinue Web access to bookmarks on June 30, 2008, after which users will no longer be able to access or update their bookmarks at .Mac.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

I think I've been in the camp of over-paying for my .Mac service, but I was happy to do so. One of the warm-fuzzies that kept me from abandoning the pricey service, ok 2 of them, were the iCards and the web-access to my bookmarks.

The iCards were simple to use and unique to Mac. No ads, no BS, just an easy benefit to use. No other site to go to when I read an email online and wanted a more cheerful reply than simple email would be. Why remove? They must cost almost nothing to maintain, since the cards rarely changed and, oh nevermind. Just a big FU to Apple for ruining my day on that one.

The bookmarks I don't understand. Why dictate how I'm mobile? I don't have an iPhone or other computers that I own. But I'm on all sorts of machines at work, on the road and with friends/family. I loved always having access to the sites I use. Am I missing something in how this has been torn away?

I guess I should reserve any real passion in this reply for when service launches. But I don't like the sound of all this....

[John French]

Interesting. I'm liking what I see in MobileMe. Now if only you could access your MobileMe pictures and stuff form AppleTV..

EDIT: Holy Crap, I got first post!

[irnchriz]

My .mac account expires in 90 days. After seeing me.com i will be upgrading to the family pack for my wife and kids emails etc.

I have been writing a lot of code using AJAX and it performs well on all of the browsers mentioned.

[kenaustus]

Looks like it's finally time to clean up my mess. Over 7,000 pics in iPhoto that needs to be trimmed and organized. iCal that goes back to 1999, emails about that old. If I can get though all of that MobileMe will probably be a blessing. Do the same for the wife on her MacBook and I night be allowed to buy an iPhone.

[BuffyzDead]

Could I buy the .Mac product from Amazon today, for the advertized $69.00....and use it to activate the Mobileme account later, say after the 60 day demo period?

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by BuffyzDead

Could I buy the .Mac product from Amazon today, for the advertized $69.00....and use it to activate the Mobileme account later, say after the 60 day demo period?

Sure, why not...

[Slewis]

Null.

[Dogcow]

[Achiever]

Originally Posted by ZagMac

The bookmarks I don't understand. Why dictate how I'm mobile? I don't have an iPhone or other computers that I own. But I'm on all sorts of machines at work, on the road and with friends/family. I loved always having access to the sites I use. Am I missing something in how this has been torn away?

Apple is not removing the bookmark syncing service. You cannot sync your bookmark using .MAC after June 30th. When MM goes online during the following weeks, any bookmark changes will automatically be pushed to all of your machines. At least that is my understanding.

Originally Posted by John French

Interesting. I'm liking what I see in MobileMe. Now if only you could access your MobileMe pictures and stuff form AppleTV..

EDIT: Holy Crap, I got first post!

No you didn't. Edit FAIL!!!!

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by BuffyzDead

Could I buy the .Mac product from Amazon today, for the advertized $69.00....and use it to activate the Mobileme account later, say after the 60 day demo period?

That's exactly what I'm going to do. My first 14 months of Mobile Me for $69

iCards are going to be missed but perhaps we'll se more mail stationary and better mail stationary.

[Kasper]

Originally Posted by BuffyzDead

Could I buy the .Mac product from Amazon today, for the advertized $69.00....and use it to activate the Mobileme account later, say after the 60 day demo period?

The answer to this is yes, right now. After Mobile Me launches, I do not know.

Best,

K

[GregAlexander]

Originally Posted by John French

Interesting. I'm liking what I see in MobileMe. Now if only you could access your MobileMe pictures and stuff form AppleTV..

And a step further... It'd be nice if Apple allowed iPhone Apps to easily be ported to the AppleTV.

ps. How closely related is the iPhone Dev kit's Xcode to Apple's DashCode?

[Animaniac]

Will inactive @mac.com email addresses which are currently retained for returning users be freed for new user registration on the @me.com domain? I'd love to move to Mobile Me, but given that I would use the email address for professional purposes, it would be deal breaking if I must use an address that is full of numbers, periods, or underscores because a long inactive @mac.com address was holding a suitable @me.com address.

Thanks!

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by ZagMac

and the web-access to my bookmarks.

Never used the iCard or Bookmarks, but was always glad to know that if I did need them there were available. What makes no sense to me about the Bookmarks is that it is such an easy option to add.

Originally Posted by Dogcow

<iCard—image>

HAHA Nice!

Originally Posted by Achiever

Apple is not removing the bookmark syncing service.

He is referring the web option to VIEW your bookmarks from a machine that you do not own. That is being removed, yet they still store them.

[Tauron]

mobile me... sounds like magical me!

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by John French

Interesting. I'm liking what I see in MobileMe. Now if only you could access your MobileMe pictures and stuff form AppleTV..

EDIT: Holy Crap, I got first post!

You can...the photos but not the other "stuff" (watch the MobileMe demo video on Apple's web site)

You didn't!

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by irnchriz

My .mac account expires in 90 days. After seeing me.com i will be upgrading to the family pack for my wife and kids emails etc.

I have been writing a lot of code using AJAX and it performs well on all of the browsers mentioned.

As an AJAX programmer, can you shed some light as to why it requires those browsers (ie, can it be written to offer limited functions on other browsers? I know nothing about it)? I'm stuck using IE 6 at work, and that's 99% of my use of .Mac's online apps. I understand that the current .Mac photo Gallery is an AJAX application. It will run on IE 6 after you click through the warning about "runs best on modern web browsers." The interface is slightly different than on a fully supported browser, and it runs slowly; but it runs. Also, veiwing the current .Mac Gallery on Firefox 2 on Window was significantly slower than Safari on my Mac.

Would you hazzard a guess as to whether MobileMe might allow modified access from IE 6 (like Gallery does today) or no access at all? If no access, MobileMe will become useless to me as I have no option to upgrade the browser on my work machine. The main reason for getting .Mac was online access to my calendars and contacts. Due to a bug I've never been able to view my contacts online, but I assume MobileMe will make the bug irrelevant. And MobileMe is a massive improvement to the calendar functionality. But now it appears I'm going to be denied access due to browser requirements!

[rtjeter]

What about iTunes / Apple store id's that are mac.com addresses? Will they be converted also? What about the already purchased music? Is it tied to that mac.com account and computer authorization?

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

In addition to their mac.com email address, users will also get an address at me.com with the same username and an iChat ID at me.com with the same user name.

Darn... I was hoping this wouldn't happen as I wanted to grab my first name @me.com

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Wiggin

As an AJAX programmer, can you shed some light as to why it requires those browsers (ie, can it be written to offer limited functions on other browsers? I know nothing about it)? I'm stuck using IE 6 at work, and that's 99% of my use of .Mac's online apps. I understand that the current .Mac photo Gallery is an AJAX application. It will run on IE 6 after you click through the warning about "runs best on modern web browsers." The interface is slightly different than on a fully supported browser, and it runs slowly; but it runs. Also, veiwing the current .Mac Gallery on Firefox 2 on Window was significantly slower than Safari on my Mac.

Would you hazzard a guess as to whether MobileMe might allow modified access from IE 6 (like Gallery does today) or no access at all? If no access, MobileMe will become useless to me as I have no option to upgrade the browser on my work machine. The main reason for getting .Mac was online access to my calendars and contacts. Due to a bug I've never been able to view my contacts online, but I assume MobileMe will make the bug irrelevant. And MobileMe is a massive improvement to the calendar functionality. But now it appears I'm going to be denied access due to browser requirements!

What about the Outlook functionality? You can sync your Outlook Calendar with Mobile Me as well.

[Bergermeister]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Darn... I was hoping this wouldn't happen as I wanted to grab my first name @me.com

I(at)me.com
me(at)me.com
myself(at)me.com
theone(at)me.com

[foxo]

What kind of p's me off is now according to the MobileMe pricing structure I will have to pay more for my wife and two daughter's email. With .Mac I had my own and 3 additional email addresses for the $99 per year price. Now it appears that the yearly $99 will only get one email. I will have to pay $149 per year for a "family pack" if I want extra emails. Kinda sux. Oh, and what will happen to my extra emails once me.com takes over? Will I not be able to use them until I pay more? Will I still be able to use them if I do convert to the family pack? *sigh*

[TrojanShawn]

Maybe one of you could shed some light on this for me. My wife and I have an iMac that we share, but we also have two work PCs that we use. Is there a way, if I purchase the family pack, to have my MobileMe account on my work PC, her MobileMe account on her work PC and both MobileMe accounts to sync to our home iMac?

It would be much easier for her calendar to update on all three computers instead of having to constantly send invitations to one another (which in turn, doesn't allow me to change the event to her calendar). It would also be nice for Address Book to sync with both of our sets of contacts to use for Mail.

This makes sense in my head, but let me know if I'm just talking jibberish.

Thanks!!

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by foxo

What kind of p's me off is now according to the MobileMe pricing structure I will have to pay more for my wife and two daughter's email. With .Mac I had my own and 3 additional email addresses for the $99 per year price. Now it appears that the yearly $99 will only get one email. I will have to pay $149 per year for a "family pack" if I want extra emails. Kinda sux. Oh, and what will happen to my extra emails once me.com takes over? Will I not be able to use them until I pay more? Will I still be able to use them if I do convert to the family pack? *sigh*

Do this not indicate that you get to keep them?

"Once upgraded, users will be under no obligation to stop using their .Mac email address or their .Mac email aliases, both of which will continue to function indefinitely, as will .Mac iChat login IDs. In addition to their mac.com email address, users will also get an address at me.com with the same username and an iChat ID at me.com with the same user name."

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by foxo

What kind of p's me off is now according to the MobileMe pricing structure I will have to pay more for my wife and two daughter's email. With .Mac I had my own and 3 additional email addresses for the $99 per year price. Now it appears that the yearly $99 will only get one email. I will have to pay $149 per year for a "family pack" if I want extra emails. Kinda sux. Oh, and what will happen to my extra emails once me.com takes over? Will I not be able to use them until I pay more? Will I still be able to use them if I do convert to the family pack? *sigh*

Personally, I like Gmail. It's good and free.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Personally, I like Gmail. It's good and free.

Offers 500x the storage capacity and is unparalleled in filtering spam.

[lostkiwi]

What about the security of mobile me?

I saw in the keynote that it is a https sign in page, but everything is http after that. With gmail and yahoo you can force https on all pages. So does this mean that every email you send is in plain text for anyone to sniff? :-o

What about when you use public computers - will it remove all your stuff off the internet cafe PC like gmail does?

Before I sign up to this, I would want to know more about security as I can see it becoming an ID theft paradise, because if someone does hack into a .mac/me account they know EVERYTHING about you.. mates/calendars/photos/private files on idisk..

Any thoughts?

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by ZagMac

I think I've been in the camp of over-paying for my .Mac service, but I was happy to do so. One of the warm-fuzzies that kept me from abandoning the pricey service, ok 2 of them, were the iCards and the web-access to my bookmarks.

The iCards were simple to use and unique to Mac. No ads, no BS, just an easy benefit to use. No other site to go to when I read an email online and wanted a more cheerful reply than simple email would be. Why remove? They must cost almost nothing to maintain, since the cards rarely changed and, oh nevermind. Just a big FU to Apple for ruining my day on that one.

The bookmarks I don't understand. Why dictate how I'm mobile? I don't have an iPhone or other computers that I own. But I'm on all sorts of machines at work, on the road and with friends/family. I loved always having access to the sites I use. Am I missing something in how this has been torn away?

I guess I should reserve any real passion in this reply for when service launches. But I don't like the sound of all this....

They should give us iWeb free with this new service. iLife 08 sucks and I only want iWeb to get the .mac/mobileme web functioning benefits.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Darn... I was hoping this wouldn't happen as I wanted to grab my first name @me.com

@ me.com sounds totally cheesy. Thank god I already have an @mac.com name.

[sigs21]

I was glad to see my mac name will not change..

But will miss my bookmarks// great for when i am at work.. and dont want to download them all to the work machine...


Steve ask the users that curently use your service what they like...

[Bergermeister]

do_not_throw_things AT me DOTCOM

[Kestral]

I hope Apple deletes the old user IDs from the iTools days and the long inactive accounts, so then I can get my first name @ me.com

[auxio]

Originally Posted by teckstud

@ me.com sounds totally cheesy. Thank god I already have an @mac.com name.

I dunno, @ me.com has much better prank name potential.

f*ck @ me.com is the obvious one, though I highly doubt it'd be allowed
sue @ me.com
bl @ me.com
sh @ me.com

Just a few off the top of my head...

[GregAlexander]

So when it all comes down to it.... .Mac has been upgraded to MobileMe.

I'm not sure if it does much more than the old .Mac (which I do use and like) - but Steve seems to have sold it well, and the iPhone integration will get people more involved.

With Mobile Me, beyond .Mac we get:
1) Double the storage space
2) An integrated web client. Email & Addresses + the calendar is now online. Plus the ability to manage your gallery photos.
3) Integrated web client can access the iDisk, including sending big files by sending a link to the iDisk file.
4) Syncing of calendar and address book to MS Outlook clients.
5) The iPhone can sync email/address/calendar via .Mac, and can email photos to our gallery directly & easily (where previously we had to know the address etc)

So if you've got 2 Macs you sync (like me), nothing has changed. But if you have a Mac and PC, this change is great. Or if you use random computers at times the web client is great.

Some questions:
a) If I have 2 Mac's, does the web gallery sync between them? Or does it work like now where one Mac "publishes" the gallery, and another can "subscribe" to it?
b) Can I send links to my iDisk files from my Mac Mail itself?
c) What about Entourage syncing? (that works now to the iPhone somehow though doesn't it?.. so should work)
d) are there any other changes to iDisk - or does it work roughly the same way?
(eg: Can I use the iDisk directly as my Documents folder? Can TimeMachine back up the iDisk for me?)

All up a good upgrade, but not as much as I'd hoped
Though perhaps I'm missing something

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by GregAlexander

I'm not sure if it does much more than the old .Mac (which I do use and like) - but Steve seems to have sold it well, and the iPhone integration will get people more involved.

The fact that it finally displays Address Book's full vCard is nice. Having notes that you can't view remotely was such a pain. They need to get with Google on their spam filters. I never used my .Mac account simply because there is so much spam.

PS: I wrote a letter to steve@apple.com stating that Bookmark viewing in MobileMe should be available. I think that is the right address to use. I also noted that Stationary should be added to make it function like Mail and should include iCards. Perhaps a petition needs to be started.

[meemorize]

Like many of you said. I would like the option to use my bookmarks remotely without having to download them.. Then again I use Firefox with Foxmarks which works very well luckily.

But to me the real question is, what happens to the .Mac groups?

.Mac allowed you to create groups for you and your friends/others.. Not only does MobileMe sound very single user oriented but in regards to what happens to the groups I can't find any info on the Apple site anywhere..

Can anyone shed some light please?

[knightlie]

Originally Posted by lostkiwi

What about the security of mobile me?

I saw in the keynote that it is a https sign in page, but everything is http after that. With gmail and yahoo you can force https on all pages. So does this mean that every email you send is in plain text for anyone to sniff? :-o

I would assume that the AJAX connections that actually do the to-ing and fro-ing are secure. I've seen a few sites with a secure login, but apparently unsecured page requests.

[Ohcomeon]

Originally Posted by rtjeter

What about iTunes / Apple store id's that are mac.com addresses? Will they be converted also? What about the already purchased music? Is it tied to that mac.com account and computer authorization?

Not a problem. You still get to keep your current .mac address.

However, if that did ever change, you would still use the same id with itunes but edit your contact details to show your new e-mail address.

I have one defunct e-mail account which I used (and still use) to purchase itunes content. I still need to log on to the itunes store with this old address but receipts and notifications are sent to my new address.

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by GregAlexander

a) If I have 2 Mac's, does the web gallery sync between them? Or does it work like now where one Mac "publishes" the gallery, and another can "subscribe" to it?

I'm also curious to know how the new Gallery will work. Right now, even on the same Mac, if you've uploaded some photos from iPhoto and some from Aperture, it is completely independent. Aperture is completely unaware of the iPhoto source albums and vice versa. In fact, iPhoto has has much better functionality with Gallery than Aperture does. It let's you rearrange the order of albums within iPhoto and the order will update Gallery (for the iPhoto albums). Aperture's albums are always forced alphabetical. I still haven't figured out the pattern of how Gallery determines the overall order of the combined set of albums. It will be interesting how the online Gallery edits will be transferred back to iPhoto and Aperture. If I change the order of albums, will that sync back to Aperture (which only supports alphabetical album listings)? Or will Aperture just put things back the way they were on the next sync?

So many questions....