MobileMe settling in, but users still unhappy

Stephen Withers
Monday, 14 July 2008 05:43

Opinion and Analysis

The status messages make it sounds as if the issues are only temporary, but an Apple support article MobileMe: About .Mac Groups says  "Groups is not a part of MobileMe" and goes on to explain how existing groups can be managed or deleted, but "You can no longer create new groups."

And it seems that even when HomePage is restored to action it will only have a short life. Another support article, MobileMe: Finding your .Mac Homepage, states "You will still be able to edit and delete your HomePage until October 10, 2008." The article goes on to explain that published pages will remain published "as long as you remain a MobileMe member".

Curiously, I was able to edit a HomePage page successfully this morning.

Other web-related complaints include claims of complete or partial loss of content on .Mac-hosted web sites, but it remains to be seen whether this is just a transitional issue that will be set right as the cutover proceeds, or if data really has been lost.

One of the strangest glitches concerns Mac OS X Update for MobileMe. This replaces the old .Mac system preference with a replacement called MobileMe, as part of "general system fixes that enhance your Mac for MobileMe."

While some users report its appearance in Software Update, others are being  told their system software is up to date even though it clearly isn't. If you're in the latter category, try opening the .Mac system preference, logging out from .Mac and then logging back in again.

This will most likely produce a warning that you haven't installed the update, with a button to run Software Update. The MobileMe update then appears. Installation does not require a restart, but the MobileMe icon may not show up immediately in System Preferences if the latter was open at the time of the update. Reopening System Preferences should do the trick.