On Monday, September 23, 2002, at 04:34 AM, Demetrius wrote: > Hello, > > Just wanted to get some feedback concerning .Mac. How many members > have joined? Is it really worth the money?I have not joined yet, but I > am considering the possibility. > > Demetrius >
Demetrius, it all depends on what you will use in the services. Will you use the email services? I use this extensively, but was not the deciding factor itself. Can you use iDisk? Would you like to have a holding space for files larger than email allows? Or could you use it to backup your address book, internet prefs, etc.? Would you like to brainlessly publish your pictures from iPhoto on the web for your family/friends to see? Would you like to publish certain parts of your calendar/schedule for others to see without hardly any effort on your part? The combination of iCal, iPhoto, and email is what brought me back over to .Mac. Do you already have virus protection? Virex 7.1 is offered as part of the .Mac services, however there are other alternatives, that are easier to use, and don't require a command line interface command to update the virus signatures. I already use NAV, and many others on this list tell me it is a piece of sh!t, but I love it, and all I have to do is hit an update button to update my signatures, and it scans on the fly, that is it it scans email downloads and internet downloads, or file transfers from other computers, etc. Virex 7.1 for OS X does not do this. You have to manually scan your files. Some people get around this by making clever applescripts that automatically scan the desktop folder when something is placed on it. This has no value for me, but when they fix those two shortcomings, I will switch over to it. I was just reading on the help forms of .Mac that Apple themselves use brightmail something or other to scan all of .mac email, which uses Symantec virus signatures. Funny, Apple should choose to use that, and give us users something else... Also on the .Mac web help forums, everyone has reported some fake virus that you can email or download yourself to check your virus program's capabilities. Everyone on there reports that Virex 7.1 for X has failed to report, or recognize it as a virus. Who knows. I have never caught a virus, so my anti-virus programs have always been insurance policies that I have never cashed in on or benefitted from. :) Can you use a backup routine? With .Mac's Backup, you can backup your office/appleworks files, among others, your preferences, address book, etc., and also specify what you want backed up. Since I have it, I am giving it a shot, and it uses up about 25 megs of my iDisk. Not too bad. Normally I have just backed up my Documents folder every 2 weeks or so onto CD. This had no deciding factor on my use of .Mac, but now that I have it I am giving it a shot. You have to decide for yourself if the services they offer can be used enough by you to justify the price of admission. Walt -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
