Customer Reviews

Apple .Mac 3.0 Retail [Old Version]

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3 star:		(1)
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Who would pay Microsoft, for an email account, backup solution, light web hosting, and a few other seemingly trivial features? However, with Apple, it does not seem like such a bad deal. Why? Like a Macintosh, .mac services simply "work."

.Mac Mail is a convenient mail service. Why? You can access your mail from just about any mail client using SMTP and POP3, or you can access your email from mac.com. The choice is yours: web based, or client (application) based. Your mail is available to you however you need it. Furthermore, if you change Internet Service Providers, you will not have to tell your contacts your new email address, if you stick with your .mac address as your permanent address. Afraid of junk mail? .mac Mail allows you to setup several alias addresses. These alias addresses forward mail to your real account, but should one of the aliases begin to receive too much spam (perhaps the alias you use to sign-up for online offers), simply delete that alias and use a new one. Meanwhile, your close family and friends can continue using the original mail address.

After mail, the web hosting features of .mac service is probably the most used feature, by .mac subscribers. There are templates to post photo albums, movies, diaries, resumes, and more. However, the best feature is your .mac websites' integration with iPhoto. Simply select however many photos you want in iPhoto, click the homepage icon, and iPhoto will post the images on your .mac website. It is simple, convenient, and fun. There is no quicker way to share your images with family and friends.

iDisk & Backup - iDisk and Backup are two superb features included with .mac services. iDisk is an Internet-based hard drive. You can store some files on it, share files via iDisk, or backup some of your important data via iDisk. Apple includes 250 MB of storage with .mac, which is shared between your iDisk, web site, and mail account. Additional storage can be purchased, for an extra charge. However, the backup application does not backup only to your iDisk. It will also backup to CD or DVD media, hard drives, and your iPod. Backup helps you put your mind to ease, for it helps keep your valuable data safe.

Bonuses - It doesn't stop there. .Mac services allows you to sync your contacts and calendars. This allows you to check your schedule, or share it with others, who have an Internet connection. Syncing your contacts and bookmarks gives you access to that data via mac.com even if you're not on your mac. Finally, Apple has some tutorials for .mac members, which offer tips on using some of Apple's most popular software titles. There are other bonuses offered from time to time, such as sample loops from the Garageband JamPacks.

Overall, .mac provides quite a few services, for just under a hundred dollars a year. Of course, when that renewal date rolls around each year, it can be a bit tough to take. However, the convenience the service provides is something you will likely utilize every-time you use your Macintosh. Amazon makes .mac an even better value, with a a fantastic savings over renewing direct with Apple. Give .mac a try, and you'll likely be surprised at how much easier email, the sharing of files and photos, backing up your data, and syncing data can be.

The authorization code in the box can be used not only to open a new dot Mac account, but can also be used to renew an existing subscription (normally $99). If you're a renewing subscriber, you can usually save money by purchasing the retail box here at Amazon.

I have subscribed to .mac since the beginning, but always stopped to think if it was worth the cost of renewing. After the recent upgrade in service, I will no longer hesitate to renew. First, the Backup software is finally decent - it was totally lame before this new version (what took so long?). The increase to 1 GB of storage is nice and the new 10GB (monthly) limit on data transfers (up from 3 GB) now makes .mac a viable option for distribution and and exchange of files with a moderate size group of people. The new "group" feature appears to make this type of exchange easy, although I haven't tried it. This service is finally starting to mature into a nice set of features that complement the best OS available.

Amazon is clearly the place to buy this service and save some $

I find this product indespensible. I am able to sync all my computers anywhere I have internet access. It is a good value for the price.

I've read a lot of complaints here and there about the .Mac service ever since it launched. However, Apple has shown year after year their committment to improving the features and service to .Mac customers.

With .Mac 3.0, Apple has raised the bar again, with 1GB of storage, seamless integration into applications like Mail, iSync, iPhoto, Safari, and Address Book, and great applications like Backup 3.0.

Ironically, buying the retail box product is even cheaper than signing up online with Apple, so I highly recommend this purchase.

I was a bit apprehensive as it came time to renew my .Mac membership. The service had not had much of an overhaul since it debuted as a pay-for service 3 years ago. Anti-virus software and other free software downloads were no longer available, and the paltry 250MB of shared email and disk storage paled in comparison to most other free online services. But faced with the prospect of losing the email address that I'd been using for the past 5 years, as well as my entire network of uploaded photo pages, I seemed resigned to pay for the renewal.

But last week, Apple came through again and upgraded the features of .Mac, making the upgrade more than worth it. For less than $80 a year for .Mac service here on Amazon, you now get 1GB of online storage to share between your email account and iDisk. But more importantly, Apple has dramatically increased the allowed monthly bandwidth to your .Mac photo and video pages, making it easier to share your memories with friends, family and colleagues without the worry of not being able to deliver all of that content.

There's a new new version of Backup (version 3.0) which has a more intuitive interface for both novices and advances users. Reports say that performance has increased, but I have not had the chance to adequately test it in order to confirm that.

Another feature of .Mac are Groups. You can create collaoration points with other .Mac members to share files and information, although all members of the group must belong to .Mac.

For anyone who is using Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), I highly recommend .Mac. The integration into all of the Tiger applications (Mail, iCal, Address Book, iSync) is seamless and makes backing up and synchronizing your data so much easier. Photo publishing with iPhoto 5 is even easier now as well.

Count me in for one more year of .Mac and I am looking forward to more improvements next year!

Apple has just upgraded .Mac adding new features:

.Mac Groups. Create private, ad-free online communities that let friends, family, teammates, and colleagues easily communicate, coordinate and share digital media. Share a common group iDisk. Send email to a single group address.


Backup 3. Completely redesigned, .Mac Backup lets you set up and complete backups more quickly and easily. Automatically backup iLife content or purchased iTunes music. Use Spotlight to find specific files to back up.


Increased Storage. Take advantage of a whopping 1GB of combined email and iDisk storage. Make that 2GB if you purchase a .Mac Family Pack.

If you need the features .Mac provides, why not save money at Amazon.com

I belonged to .Mac since it first became available. I used it mostly for e-mail and some backup of vital files. I was considering dropping it but Apple has improved the service and features. It is especially valuable with multiple Macs. I have Macs at home and at the office. The ability to synchronize my calendar, bookmarks, e-mail, and contacts has been a great asset. It also syncs with my Palm Tungsten E. I have also used it to post vacation photos, host my home page, manage mail on the road, and post files for downloading. Apple used to keep me going each year with free software. They seemed to have slowed down on this, but the software goodies are a nice bonus that can help the service pay for itself. It has an intuitive interface and I have never had problems with service not being available. Highly recommended.

The .Mac suite of services is a very powerful tool yet comphrehensive enough for anybody to use. Not only that but it is a constantly evolving interactive tool as well.
Just in the last year I am amazed at the amount of interface tutorials and upgrades that have been added to my account. All free of charge!
I am not sure what it is like from the PC perspective but I can tell you that as a Mac user it handles my digital photo's, calender, address book and maybe most significant of all, the backup of my important files and information.
Wow!
Throw in web publishing with no need for any training or knowledge of html.
More bang for your hundred bucks than anything else I have used including software, hardware, online services, galleries, email services and the list goes on.
To top it off I can access the full scope of services and all my files from any computer anywhere in the world. My web pages are easily viewable by those using Apple or PC platforms too.
The only thing it hasn't done on a "click" is upload Adobe psd files but that is easily accomplished by converting those to tiff or jpeg.
Good luck!

You could get all the services elsewhere for free, but .Mac puts them all in one place and intergrates with your computer(s) seamlesly. I have been a user for many years and don't see that changing anytime soon. I hope they continue to improve the services as it grows.