Apple .Mac 3.5 Online Service Description:

Apple .Mac 3.5 Online Service review:
2 stars (Too expensive and much to basic, otherwise good.) - First let me say that I am a long time Mac user and I am trying to see all Apple services from it's positive side, so don't thing this is a beating from a Mac hater or something like that....



The pro's:



-Very nice integration into Mac OS X



-Very convenient backup possibility



-Very nice website templates



-Stylish email address (@mac.com)



-Massive load of clips and sounds for "Garage Band"



-Free virus scanner



-Premium customer service (for .Mac services only)









Now the con's (which are overwhelming)



-The Price ($99 for 1000MB of space (for hosting and email), are you kidding me? Considering that you get a free email account with 2.5 GB right now.... Apple, please upgrade your service. Also they let you pay for every extra. You are paying extra for another email address and if you like to have more space.



-The webhosting is much to basic. You can use simple html and that's it. Apple doesn't offer you to use scripts, databases... nothing. They don't even offer to host your own message board, blog or chat. I realized for the most basic user this does not mean anything, but for advanced users the webhosting is much too basic.



-When you sign up you have to select a username. This username will be your email (yourname@mac.com and your URL (members.mac.com/yourname). You might think that there are not that many .mac users (about a million, the last time I checked), but thing again: Every time somebody signs up for a free trial the chosen username will not be deleted for years! This means if I just signed up for a free trial in the year 2000 with the username "user555", then this name is still taken today. This means it's incredibly hard to find a good username today.



-The mail service is much to basic and impossible to use for power-users: I had the following confirmed from the .Mac customer service: You can not send more than a certain number of eMail an hour (I believe it was 20), because this is considered to be spam and will be blocked from Apple and you can not send emails with more than 20 pictures. Plus the apple mail servers are just not reliable. I had so many problems it was very frustrating.



Conclusion: The .Mac service is great for beginners that don't have to worry about money. People that have to be careful with the spending can get almost the same features for free right now. Otherwise it's a fine service.

The day Apple offers it for $30 or less a year, I am the first to sign up.