Filed under: Rumors, Internet Tools, Software Update
Apple reportedly planning .Mac updates, numerous Tiger bug fixes
Good old .mac. I've got an account, and I use the heck out of it. The venerable service is probably a big reason my wife is in love with her iBook. Since publishing movies and photos to our .mac pages is so simple, she's gone from no computer to two laptops, and even works online now... So I've gotten my money's worth.Still, as some people have questioned earlier, couldn't it do more? One of the hallmarks of the Mac OS is integration (hardware, software, and services). That said integration embarrasses Microsoft on a daily basis too. So it's with a great smile that I read the latest scuttlebutt from AppleInsider: updates to .mac coming soon. Haven't we heard this song before?
Unfortunately these aren't the sweeping changes some might wish for, but they are nice. Most importantly, Backup.app gets a makeover. Multiple backup profiles used to be a total nightmare. Now that pain is eased, and there are apparently multiple profiles built-in for backup of iLife data, home folder data, and settings. Finally! Also on the slate are those often-rumored (by Apple itself thank you) .mac-exclusive widgets. I can only assume these will tie into .mac services, but I've been wrong before.
AppleInsider also reports 10.4.3 is coming soon, with around 400 bug fixes. No word on whether this will appease C.K. though. I hope the 367 bugs I've found get fixed.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
human after all said 11:06AM on 8-31-2005
10.3.4 ey? hmmm
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mad scientist said 11:14AM on 8-31-2005
Does anyone else notice that Apple consistently brings out new .Mac features about this time every year in an effort to get us all to pony up another $100 USD for another year of .Mac underwhelmedness?
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Joshua said 11:39AM on 8-31-2005
10.3.4. I can't wait! Wasn't that the update that killed a bunch of G5s? Or was that 10.3.5? Ah, such fond memories.
As for 10.4.3, I hope they fix that quirk in Software Update. Overall, the 3 releases of 10.4 seem to have been better than the releases of 10.3.
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Brian said 12:30PM on 8-31-2005
My number one priority would be more server space. Google gives 2GB for free. We get 250MB for $99.
But it's hard to argue with the enjoyment of giving a .mac address to people.
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icerabbit said 12:43PM on 8-31-2005
Yes, mad scientist, it looks like once again Apple is on the time to update .mac with a few features right before the majority of accounts (those that rolled over from the free days) are up for renewal.
I won't hold my breath for new / advanced features. Some extra space & bandwith would be fine, but, they still haven't addressed certain essentials like, eh, speed!
Max-ing out upload & sync speed remains the top #1 to fix. No matter how many times they say they've improved .mac syncing, speed etc with OS updates; it's still sluggish at best. The pauses before & after uploading every file - yikes (like when you re-upload an entire blog/site/...) With larger files I can see little spurts of 20KB/s and blips above that; but on average it's 5KB/s up. Apple keeps pointing to my - and everybody else's for that matter - connection. I have 512k up or 65KB/s effective upload speed, which I can easily max out using FTP to other servers. Not with iDisk, sadly enough.
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Victor Agreda, Jr. said 1:10PM on 8-31-2005
icerabbit, those slow speeds are a result of using WebDav instead of something "normal" like ftp... It is very aggravating, like never being able to have a local mirror of your iDisk because at some point the two got out of sync and copy errors persist, forcing you to never be able to get that local copy back. Nice (bitter? a tad).
The only reason I support WebDav is because my day gig blocks ftp (don't ask), but not WebDav. So I can update websites, etc. using .mac. Whoop-i-di-doo.
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narco said 1:14PM on 8-31-2005
I now access my .Mac's iDisk via Transmit. There's even a Transmit widget that allows you to upload files to your iDisk via Dashboard. It made things a HELL of a lot easier.
Fishes,
narco.
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icerabbit said 1:14PM on 8-31-2005
My top 4:
- more speed on the way UP
- more space: 512MB - 1GB included
- subdomain per registered email acct - username.mac.com
+ On a related note: LAN sync. How silly is it to slowly upload xxMB to your iDisk, to have to download it again on another machine?
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Frank Patrick said 1:59PM on 8-31-2005
I'm still waiting for the fix to the iPod's live updating that was broken when they introduced podcasts.
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Jon Grimshaw said 6:46PM on 8-31-2005
And what about Virex? How can it no longer be supported when we've paid for it? It'll be interesting to see what happens now that McAfee have a Tiger compatible version...
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random said 7:21PM on 8-31-2005
You didn't pay for Virex; you paid for .Mac, which is a service that offered you use of Virex. Who needs Virex anyway? It's buggy and pointless. A friend of mine put it this way "It's like wearing a seatbelt in a parked car."
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Jon Grimshaw said 7:46PM on 8-31-2005
I paid for Virex. If only for my Windoze friends, God bless 'em, in my dealings with them* - the rest of the package, without it, wouldn't have quite swung it for me. Don't get me wrong, I want to like .Mac and use some of its features but it's not what it should fully be. Put simply, it isn't right to effectively change the terms of an arrangement after the fact- and without any real direct notification I'm aware of.
*I'm not a fully fledged geek (wish I was) but I just want it to do what it says on the tin.
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