Antivirus software is pointless(*) on a Unix machine. You may be helping to protect Windows users if you happen to forward a suspect email but that's iffy.
Well .mac is cool but is it $99 cool? I don't think it is.
Yahoo already offers 100MB of e-mail storage space.
Gmail will offer 1GB of e-mail storage space.
Sure, .mac isn't just about e-mail...the syncing aspect and iDisk aspect is cool but I still think this should come free to people that buy Macs. It should be part of the Mac experience...not an add-on to the Mac experience.
No way is it worth it, .mac only has 3 letters in its name and Gmail has *5*, no contest.
Yeah, I know there's more to both the services than the number of letters in their name but I'm going to ignore all those differences anyway and make my entire decision based on a over-simplistic reduction to a single numerical dimension.
Or not...
I've got both and love them both.
Gmail is my personal search engine for a ton of mailing lists I've signed up for but never really get around to reading. It also permanent storage for email reciepts etc. but unless I've overlooked some options it doesn't:
* let my tech-dyslexic girlfriend get wedding photos from a digital camera onto the web in less than half an hour.
* synch my various computers, phones and iPods so that I am never without my vital contact data.
* give me any public webspace to share large files (though I can just email it if they have Gmail too).
* give me POP/IMAP access with an email client (apparantly coming, for a fee)
* give me multiple disposable email aliases
etc.
The two systems are *totally* different, and comparisons between them are beginning to bug me as much as comparisons of iBooks to PC 'laptops' that may have the latest greatest graphics chips but measure six foot by three, weigh half a ton and have a battery life measured in seconds.
They are different things, aimed at different market segments, so stop comparing them in such narrow, unthinking ways.
No way is it worth it, .mac only has 3 letters in its name and Gmail has *5*, no contest.
Yeah, I know there's more to both the services than the number of letters in their name but I'm going to ignore all those differences anyway and make my entire decision based on a over-simplistic reduction to a single numerical dimension.
Or not...
I've got both and love them both.
Gmail is my personal search engine for a ton of mailing lists I've signed up for but never really get around to reading. It also permanent storage for email reciepts etc. but unless I've overlooked some options it doesn't:
* let my tech-dyslexic girlfriend get wedding photos from a digital camera onto the web in less than half an hour.
* synch my various computers, phones and iPods so that I am never without my vital contact data.
* give me any public webspace to share large files (though I can just email it if they have Gmail too).
* give me POP/IMAP access with an email client (apparantly coming, for a fee)
* give me multiple disposable email aliases
etc.
The two systems are *totally* different, and comparisons between them are beginning to bug me as much as comparisons of iBooks to PC 'laptops' that may have the latest greatest graphics chips but measure six foot by three, weigh half a ton and have a battery life measured in seconds.
They are different things, aimed at different market segments, so stop comparing them in such narrow, unthinking ways.
you forgot to count the "." in .Mac so actually Gmail is only 25% better
Antivirus software is pointless(*) on a Unix machine. You may be helping to protect Windows users if you happen to forward a suspect email but that's iffy.
*for the vast majority
Would it still be pointless when connected to a college campus network? A couple years ago, I stupidly connected my Windows computer with no antivirus software and the system was damaged beyond repair within a few days. I know there are fewer mac virii, but isn't there still some risk?
Would it still be pointless when connected to a college campus network? A couple years ago, I stupidly connected my Windows computer with no antivirus software and the system was damaged beyond repair within a few days. I know there are fewer mac virii, but isn't there still some risk?
Yes, it would still be pointless. Unix is orders of magnitude safer and more robust than Windows ever was, or will be.
When vulnerabilities are found Apple and other Unix vendors in general respond more quickly and provide patches to resolve the issue.
I reccommend making regular backups of personal data and let the Windows users play with defragmenters and antivirus software.
Comments
do i then renew through .mac?
*for the vast majority
Yahoo already offers 100MB of e-mail storage space.
Gmail will offer 1GB of e-mail storage space.
Sure, .mac isn't just about e-mail...the syncing aspect and iDisk aspect is cool but I still think this should come free to people that buy Macs. It should be part of the Mac experience...not an add-on to the Mac experience.
Yeah, I know there's more to both the services than the number of letters in their name but I'm going to ignore all those differences anyway and make my entire decision based on a over-simplistic reduction to a single numerical dimension.
Or not...
I've got both and love them both.
Gmail is my personal search engine for a ton of mailing lists I've signed up for but never really get around to reading. It also permanent storage for email reciepts etc. but unless I've overlooked some options it doesn't:
* let my tech-dyslexic girlfriend get wedding photos from a digital camera onto the web in less than half an hour.
* synch my various computers, phones and iPods so that I am never without my vital contact data.
* give me any public webspace to share large files (though I can just email it if they have Gmail too).
* give me POP/IMAP access with an email client (apparantly coming, for a fee)
* give me multiple disposable email aliases
etc.
The two systems are *totally* different, and comparisons between them are beginning to bug me as much as comparisons of iBooks to PC 'laptops' that may have the latest greatest graphics chips but measure six foot by three, weigh half a ton and have a battery life measured in seconds.
They are different things, aimed at different market segments, so stop comparing them in such narrow, unthinking ways.
Originally posted by stupider...likeafox
No way is it worth it, .mac only has 3 letters in its name and Gmail has *5*, no contest.
Yeah, I know there's more to both the services than the number of letters in their name but I'm going to ignore all those differences anyway and make my entire decision based on a over-simplistic reduction to a single numerical dimension.
Or not...
I've got both and love them both.
Gmail is my personal search engine for a ton of mailing lists I've signed up for but never really get around to reading. It also permanent storage for email reciepts etc. but unless I've overlooked some options it doesn't:
* let my tech-dyslexic girlfriend get wedding photos from a digital camera onto the web in less than half an hour.
* synch my various computers, phones and iPods so that I am never without my vital contact data.
* give me any public webspace to share large files (though I can just email it if they have Gmail too).
* give me POP/IMAP access with an email client (apparantly coming, for a fee)
* give me multiple disposable email aliases
etc.
The two systems are *totally* different, and comparisons between them are beginning to bug me as much as comparisons of iBooks to PC 'laptops' that may have the latest greatest graphics chips but measure six foot by three, weigh half a ton and have a battery life measured in seconds.
They are different things, aimed at different market segments, so stop comparing them in such narrow, unthinking ways.
you forgot to count the "." in .Mac so actually Gmail is only 25% better
Originally posted by Bancho
Antivirus software is pointless(*) on a Unix machine. You may be helping to protect Windows users if you happen to forward a suspect email but that's iffy.
*for the vast majority
Would it still be pointless when connected to a college campus network? A couple years ago, I stupidly connected my Windows computer with no antivirus software and the system was damaged beyond repair within a few days. I know there are fewer mac virii, but isn't there still some risk?
Originally posted by Ika
Would it still be pointless when connected to a college campus network? A couple years ago, I stupidly connected my Windows computer with no antivirus software and the system was damaged beyond repair within a few days. I know there are fewer mac virii, but isn't there still some risk?
Yes, it would still be pointless. Unix is orders of magnitude safer and more robust than Windows ever was, or will be.
When vulnerabilities are found Apple and other Unix vendors in general respond more quickly and provide patches to resolve the issue.
I reccommend making regular backups of personal data and let the Windows users play with defragmenters and antivirus software.