Chapter 6. .Mac Services and iDisk


IN THIS CHAPTER:

45 Sign Up for .Mac

46 Share a Slideshow Screensaver

47 Create a .Mac Web Page

48 Use .Mac Webmail

49 Reset a Lost .Mac Password

50 Connect to Your iDisk

51 Keep Your iDisk in Sync

52 Share Your iDisk Public Folder with Others

53 Password-Protect Your Public Folder

In the modern computing world, more and more of what we think of as "computing" involves the exchange of data over the Internet. Not only that, but this digital exchange is no longer just the impersonal web-surfing of the Internet's first explosive years ; nowadays, the way we interact with our computers and the Internet is increasingly personalized. Online commerce has reached the level where a great many people are as comfortable shopping on the Web as they are using a catalog or going to a store. An even more infectious phenomenon , though, is the proliferation of personalized services that take advantage of the new digital devices we use in our daily lives. Personal web publishing, file sharing, photo albums, network storagethese things all have come about only recently as a result both of the ever- decreasing price of data storage and the explosion of digital lifestyle devices on the marketthe so-called "Digital Hub" that Steve Jobs announced as Apple's strategy in the year 2000. It was only with the maturation of Mac OS X and its core technologies, and the introduction of .Mac, that the digital hub strategy truly became a reality.

Digital cameras don't just take pictures; they remove a dozen tedious steps from what once was a laborious and technically demanding process standing in the way of anybody who wanted to share those pictures with the world. The same is true of digital camcorders, MP3 players, personal organizers, and Internet applications such as web browsers and email programseach one is fun on its own, but its appeal is enhanced by the availability of easy-to-use data management applications supported by centralized data services such as .Mac and Microsoft's .NET.

By signing up for .Mac and configuring your computer to use your .Mac account, you raise its capabilities to a whole new level. When you start up your .Mac-enabled Mac, you automatically log in to your .Mac account at Apple's servers. A whole host of personalized services becomes available: network disk storage (iDisk), one-click purchasing of photo prints and music downloads, iChat instant messaging, email service, and a lot more. Apple keeps bringing out new features for .Mac users every time we turn aroundvirus-protection software, data backup tools, synchronization of Address Book contacts and Safari bookmarks, and so on. Some people might find it disconcerting to have their personal information stored at a remote site, and information privacy is certainly not a trivial thing to worry about, but Apple's .Mac services are becoming so rich and so compelling that their benefits outweigh the risks inherent in centralized data management. After a few months on .Mac, it's hard to imagine computing without it. See 100 Synchronize Your Information Using .Mac for more information.

KEY TERM

.Mac An architecture in which Mac users all over the Internet can store their personal data and preferences on central servers at Apple.


.Mac costs $99 per year. Apple offers a free 60-day trial account, which you can sign up for directly from Mac OS X. At the end of the trial period, you can either stop using .Mac or pay the yearly fee and upgrade to a full .Mac account.

iDisk is a central feature of .Mac; it's a network disk system that allows you to store data on Apple's central servers. Whenever you use .Mac to host a web page, synchronize your contacts, or read your email, you're using the disk space on the iDisk system. Every .Mac account comes with 250 combined megabytes of iDisk space (you can divide that total however you like between .Mac mail and iDisk storage), and you can buy moreup to a gigabytefor $50 extra per year.

Your iDisk is a mountable network drive that acts like a remote version of your Home folderit has a Pictures folder, a Movies folder, and Documents, Sites , and Music folders, just like your local Mac does. Items you put in these folders can be shared with others using applications such as iPhoto, or with the .Mac services that store data in those folders according to their type. But the foremost purpose of iDisk is to let you share your data among multiple Macs; if you put your documents into the Documents folder on your iDisk, for instance, you can connect to your iDisk from any Mac and access those documents no matter where you are.

TIP

A full description of each of the folders in your iDisk and what they're used for can be found in the document called About your iDisk , found in the top level of your iDisk.


As an additional convenience, iDisk features automatic synchronization: As long as you have an active network connection, your Mac will keep a local copy of your iDisk so that you can access all the items in it quickly. If you make any changes to the items in the local iDisk, the changes are automatically propagated to the central server and then to your other Macs as well, so they all always have the most current copies of your important files.

TIP

In your iDisk, you'll also find a Software folder, which contains copies of many downloadable applications provided by Apple. Browse these pieces of software by category, find one you like, and drag it to your Desktop to download it.


Through .Mac and iDisk you'll have the opportunity to download a variety of free software provided at the .Mac website: games , utilities, and the virus protection software Virex. As a Mac user , viruses won't be nearly as much of a problem for you as they would be on Windows, simply because most viruses are written for Windows, but Virex is a worthwhile tool to install nonetheless, just in case. You don't want to be one of the unlucky few who fall prey to a rare Mac virus!

NOTE

Software such as Virex, which scans for both Mac and Windows viruses, is a benefit not just to you as a Mac user, but to any Windows users on your network. A Windows virus might not hurt your Mac, but if a Windows user connects to it over the network, the virus can spread to it and wreak havoc. In other words, your Mac might be immune to most viruses, but it can be a carrier.


KEY TERM

Virus A malicious pieces of software that gets surreptitiously installed on your computer with the intent of causing digital harm or mischief.


In addition to the services that .Mac provides in its own right, it also enhances other applications by allowing you to keep their information in sync across multiple Macs. See 100 Synchronize Your Information Using .Mac for more information on synchronizing your Safari bookmarks, your Address Book contacts, your iCal appointments, and your Mail settings. Only a few of the myriad features of .Mac are covered in the tasks in this chapter, but they should be sufficient to get you started and pointed in the right direction.



MAC OS X Tiger in a Snap
Mac OS X Tiger in a Snap
ISBN: 0672327066
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2001
Pages: 212
Authors: Brian Tiemann

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