.Mac with iWeb

An intriguing concept this surely – hooking up two of the most over rated, over priced elements of the Mac “stable” and trying to turn it into something of interest and value!

I use both iWeb and .Mac and I can’t say that either blow my socks off, nor are they exactly hard to get to grips with. I think iWeb is fun and easy to use, but not exactly difficult. I am seriously thinking of knocking .Mac on the head and either hosting my iWeb site on another server or just stopping it.

So I had a vested interest in .Mac with iWeb (Second Edition) by David Reynolds.

What they say:

“Need to learn what’s new in .Mac fast? Try a Visual QuickStart!

This best-selling reference’s visual format and step-by-step, task-based instructions will have you up and running with .Mac in no time. In this completely updated edition of our best-selling guide to .Mac leading software application expert David Reynolds uses crystal-clear instructions and friendly prose to introduce you everything that’s new. Filled with step-by-step, task-based instructions and loads of visual aids, this book explains how to publish your photos, movies, podcasts and blogs on the internet with iWeb; share your photo albums in iPhoto as a photocast; access your files from anywhere with iDisk; keep all your Macs in sync with another with .Mac sync; and more!”

What I Say:

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this book, and how helpful I found it. Having used iWeb and .Mac for a year now there was little that I personally didn’t know or had use for, or so I thought. The book itself is well structured through thirteen (13) chapters:

* Getting Started
* Sending Mail
* Using iDisk
* Using HomePge
* Using iWeb with .Mac
* Using iPhoto with .Mac
* Using .Mac Groups
* Using .Mac Sync
* Using Address Book
* Using .Mac Bookmarks
* Using iCal
* Using Backup
* .Mac Troubleshooting

Personally I think .Mac is a great concept, but needs more on-line storage to be really effective. I use it a lot to Photocast my photos from iPhoto and to host the iWeb site, but that really is about it. The Backup has the potential to be really good but I have way too big a home folder. However, this review isn’t about the benefits of .Mac.

The books starts with a little background that I didn’t know about relating to the original iTools which consisted of a mac.com email, KidSafe filter for web sites, HomePage and iDisk. This and HomePage was about the only new stuff for me, but I found the book easy to read, not at all condescending and I could see how it would be really useful to many people.

As well as clearly explaining pretty much all there is to know about .mac and iWeb, the book also gives a really good example of the way that Apple think when it comes to you and your computing experiences. Sure, they want to “own” you but so do Microsoft, Google etc i.e. Apple works better if you only use Apple and all your friends and family use Apple. Their “perfect world” is amazing, but it wont exist for you, and it certainly doesn’t exist for me as the vast majority of my friends and family are still Windows users.

The book also provide great examples of the way in which the Mac works, so is an excellent confidence builder for anybody new to the Mac.

If you are new to the Mac or especially if you are considering buying a Mac I would certainly suggest that it is well worth taking a look at this book if you get a chance. More advanced and experienced users probably don’t use iWeb or .Mac or if they do will know pretty much everything that is in this book

Book Details:

Published by: Peachpit Press
Price: $21.99 list ($19.79 site price)
ISBN-10: 0-321-44228-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-44228-4
Published: Jul 28, 2006
Copyright 2007
Dimensions 7 X 9
Pages: 320
Edition: 2nd.

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