.Mac is an Awesome Service (and they just quadrupled their storage)

Posted on September 21, 2005 | 4 Comments

.macI just noticed that .Mac expanded their storage from 250MB to 1GB (as of August 2007 it’s now 10GB!) which makes it even better! If you have a Macintosh, you’ll love this (especially if you have a laptop or more than one Mac). It’s a remote backup / synchronization / virus checking / file sharing / training / web publishing software service rolled all-in-one! I was going to post an update and I realized I’ve never posted about it before (I’d swear I had, I can’t believe I hadn’t). Here’s a few details:

  • You get an iDisk which just mounts on your desktop like a hard drive, floppy or thumb drive. It has remote storage (off your computer) and will automatically sync when you are on the net (but you can use it even when you aren’t on the net). This is great if you have a laptop. If you lose/break it, you still have you files.

  • These files are then accessible (via password) from most Windows and Macs that are on the Internet.
  • If you have a second (or third computer) it’ll also sync to make sure all the computers have the same files.
  • It does the same for you Bookmarks/Favorites, your Mail settings, your contacts and your calendar. Plus you can log in anywhere from the web to view this information!
  • Plus they give you web space to very easily publish photos and movies (just click a button from iPhoto and iMovie).Banner
  • A yourname@mac.com e-mail address. (You share the storage space with the filespace)
  • Free virus software. (no longer included)
  • Free backup software (to CDs, DVDs, etc.)
  • On-line tutorials for Apple “stuff”
  • Some free garageband loops.
  • All sorts of other stuff!
  • You can buy more storage space and additional mail accounts.

    They offer a 60 day free trial so give it a try, it’s very easy to set up. It is $99 a year (sometimes on-sale) but it’s so easy to use…

    They have some family plans (you get less storage for the four subaccounts) which cost less in the end. You can buy more storage or more e-mail. They are a little pricier but the ease of use is worth it.

    This is a really cool product, I can’t believed I’ve never mentioned it before. And the easy of use makes it even better. If you were geeky enough you could probably do the remote back up much cheaper, but the work involved and that it wouldn’t do all you other preferences and include virus and all the easy web published and tutorials (and more).

    I’m thinking the storage increase must be very new, a lot of the online ads don’t even reflect it yet.

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    4 responses to “.Mac is an Awesome Service (and they just quadrupled their storage)”

    1. Dave2 | September 21, 2005 at 4:36 pm |

      I love me the .Mac!

      Except iDisk, which is slow to the point of unusability (and has frequently locked up the Finder on me). What’s the point of 1 Gb of space when it would take six years to fill it?

      Fortunately, there is a solution… Transmit, a brilliant FTP app, can also connect to your iDisk… but at speeds much better than the desktop-mountable version you get from Apple.

    2. Gary | September 21, 2005 at 5:17 pm |

      I never seem to have any problems with .Mac. I know it’s not fast as other ways of connecting but I mirror the iDisk with the “iDisk Syncing” so I’m actually saving it to my machine (as fast as I can save to the hard drive) and then some time after that it’ll automagically sync. So I never notice that it’s slow since it’s so transparent.

      The extra space is great since I can store photos or recently purchased itunes there and not worry about losing them if something happens (especially if the originals are on my portable). And by the next time I think about them, they’ll be synced to my desktop. Now I can store more than a CD worth of stuff and then back it up :)

      I guess it could be behind some of my finder lockups, but it’s rare I can’t cmd-opt-esc out of it so I’ve never worried about it much.

    3. Gary Said... | August 19, 2007 at 4:58 pm |

      .Mac Just got better!

      I’ve mentioned Apple’s .Mac service before and I really like it. Apple has expanded their .Mac on-line backup/syncing to 10GB (from 1 GB). Apple has always been behind the curve in how much storage space for the cost ($99 a year) but they’ve made up fo…

    4. Gary | August 31, 2009 at 2:18 am |

      These days they’re up to 20 GB and it’s called MobileMe (and it syncs with your iPhone).

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