MobileMe Demystified
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MobileMe Explained

I was an early adapter to MobileMe (formerly known as .Mac). Essentially, MobileMe is an internet-based suite that allows you to take full advantage of your Macintosh. If you want an easy way to create your own webpage and host it using iWeb, or the ability to sync all of your contacts and calendar events with your iPhone, PC, or other Mac, MobileMe is the best solution.

In a nutshell MobileMe revolves around your username which is something you create when you first register for MobileMe. This username also serves as an email address and offers some of the best spam and junk mail protection of any email address.

In this article I’d like to introduce what it is and how to get started. I’d like to eventually turn this into a series covering all the various uses of MobileMe in detail, so check back often for any upcoming articles. Let’s get started!

Getting Started

You can start your MobileMe experience by visiting www.me.com and registering for a free 60 day trial account. This gives you plenty of time to test out all of MobileMe’s features. Like I mentioned above, during the registration process you will create a username which will be central to your MobileMe experience.

Once you complete registration for your MobileMe account you can visit your Mac’s System Preferences to enter the MobileMe username in the MobileMe preference pane.

Once you input your username and password you should see that your information has been validated. Once the information is valid you are on your way to using MobileMe.

MobileMe Options

From here you will see several tabs: Account (pertinent account registration information, i.e. subscription end date, iDisk allocation, and account type), Sync (for syncing your Address Book, Calendar, Mail, Dock Preferences and Bookmarks between your Macs, Windows based machines and iPhone), iDisk (online storage), and Back to My Mac (intuitive way to access your Macs from any other Macintosh connected to the Internet).

iWeb, iChat and Going Forward

Beyond syncing your data and accessing your Macs from outside of your network, MobileMe also offers effortless Web Publishing and Web Hosting via the iLife application iWeb.

If you are familiar with AOL’s Instant Messenger then you’ll feel right at home with Apple’s iChat. Not only does iChat work with you newly created MobileMe account name but it will work with your existing AOL username as well.

If you’ve ever stumbled upon an application in your iLife suite named iWeb then you’ll be happy to know that using iWeb and MobileMe together makes publishing your movies, photos, and blog a lot easier.