I've been wrestling with this for a few months now and found that some things work and some don't.
I don't think you can keep your entire home directory identical on the two machines using iSync. ISync in 10.4 will do a good job of keeping your iCal data in step, and works well with the address book. But there are some oddities when syncing mail, particularly with multiple accounts that get frequently manipulated. Certain mail messages seem only to appear on one machine, and copies of outgoing messages sometimes only remain on the machine they were sent on. Because I'm using two POP accounts and one DotMac account I get some behaviors I haven't been able to figure out. There are many combinations with each account on both machines and on the DotMac account up on the server. And one other small problem is that I would really like to keep some of my accounting files synchronized between desktop and laptop but haven't found a way to do that gracefully. I keep the files on a USB flash drive sometimes, but that's a fragile system with a chance of lost data. I don't entirely trust flash drives, at least not for data I can't replace. Throw in a Palm device and things get even more complicated. Palms synchronize using a special iSync conduit that writes calendar events to iCal and addresses to Address on the Mac, but puts the palm notes in the Palm desktop application, which is necessary for synching even when you're using iCal for your calendar. Palm suggests users only synchronize with one Mac. I can't imagine what can happen when a Palm files gets changed, the Palm gets synchronized to Mac A, Mac A gets synchronized to DotMac on the Mac server. Mac B then gets synchronized via DotMac with the Mac server and the Palm device gets hooked up to Mac B. Oh, and I think only later versions of Tiger will do the Palm dance. I don't think Panther's iSync can do Palms. The head spins with the possibilities. My final solution is to have my Palm only talk to the laptop, and to do my e-mail and accounting only on the laptop. Then I sync the laptop with DotMac. My desktop Mac just reads the files on DotMac and I avoid making changes there. It's not an elegant system. If a list member out there has a cleaner application to do this sort of thing I hope the solution gets posted. J On Monday, January 16, 2006, at 03:27PM, Alan Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >Maybe you should give it a try. If you go to apples web site you can >get a 2 month free trial..... > >I did, synced a few times, but haven't been back in a few weeks. It >seemed to work well for me. > >Not the fastest, but can be done at remote locations, besides just at >home. >-- >Alan Miller >Underwater Photographer <°))))<....°.°.°.°. -- 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:G-Books@mail.maclaunch.com> 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/> --------------------------------------------------------------- iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
