MSN vs. .Mac

[haddiscoe]

In what way is .Mac better than MSN? I have accounts with both - regular with MSN and trial with .Mac - and they both work fine. From what I can see:

- MSN offers me multiple e-mail accounts. .Mac offers me only one.
- MSN is $79 a year versus $99 for .Mac.
- .Mac offers me iDisk.

Anything else I've missed that could help me make a decision whether to renew MSN or switch to .Mac?

Thanks!

[Horrortaxi]

I hate to sound this way, but I'll give you the political answer: .Mac is not owned by Microsoft. That's worth $20 extra a year.

I doubt that MSN can give you seemess integration with your Mac the way .Mac does.

[haddiscoe]

Sorry, but the fact that MSN comes from Microsoft isn't worth an extra $20 a year to me. If MSN was broken then I'd consider it but my experience has been that MSN and .Mac are both very stable.

However the .Mac integration with the Mac is a good point. Maybe I haven't played with the integration enough to get a good feel for how well it works.

[abdul]

i think .mac has better syncing as well, from wherever you access your account from. for more info on .mac

http://www.mac.com/

i would personally really like the idea that wherever i log onto my accounti have access to all my files. Really useful

[FriarTuck]

If you want to see the way some folks have integrated .Mac into their lives, I recommend

dotmac.info (http://dotmac.info/)

[zim]

There have been countless debates on the value of .mac here on the forums, try searching and I am sure that you will find more then enough reasons for going with .mac.

My favorite aspects of .mac is iSyc, having multiple computers and having them synchronized at all times is extremely easy with .mac. Another fairly new favorite of mine is having my bookmarks available where ever I go, even on a pc, all accessible from the .mac page, along with my address book. Plus you get Virex and backup software, I am sure that MS does not offer any of that. And as a treat apple gives out free games, this year alone they have given us about 5 total.

Who cares about extra email, I am sure it is loaded with spam, another great thing of .mac, I have not gotten any spam through the account. I use to have a hotmail account and it was a painful task of sweeping out the spam every day. I think that you will be more then happy with .mac. Oh, I completely forgot about iDisk, I just don't see how the two even compare.

[e-coli]

idisk, bookmark and address book access from anywhere is key.

And you personal data will actually be SECURE.

[irmongoose]

In the August issue of MacAddict they did a pretty detailed comparison of AOL, Earthlink, MSN, Juno, and .Mac.

It seems the bottom line was that if you want all the usability, integration, and options, .Mac is for you. If you're a first-timer and want just the cheaper, easier-to-use, but limiting service, MSN is for you.



irmongoose

[haddiscoe]

Thanks everybody. I'll take another look at .Mac then.

[Gus]

I have a question-how can one compare .Mac, AOL, MSN and whatever when .Mac is not an ISP? I mean, AOL and MSN provide internet access, while .Mac only provides services once you've gotten online. Do you see my meaning?

Regards,
Gus

[zim]

Originally posted by Gus
I have a question-how can one compare .Mac, AOL, MSN and whatever when .Mac is not an ISP? I mean, AOL and MSN provide internet access, while .Mac only provides services once you've gotten online. Do you see my meaning?

Regards,
Gus

Although, you are correct in the sense that MSN and AOL do provide internet access, you do not have to have their access to use the services such as hotmail and passport, of which I believe was in question.

I agree with you, assuming that you are speaking in favor of .mac, that .mac is unique and offers services that the others do not, services that I want therefore I am a member. MSN offers services such as emil and storage, I think, but it does not compare.