Mac OS X Power Hound, Second Edition

.Mac and iDisk

For $100 per year, Apple’s .Mac (“dot mac”) service provides a number of benefits, including an “@mac.com” email address, virus protection, backup software, and 100 MB of Internet based storage space called an iDisk.

An iDisk is like a 100 MB hard drive that’s accessible from almost any modern computer, anywhere. The iDisk is well integrated with Mac OS X, too. You can see an example of this integration in the Internet System Preferences pane, whose iDisk tab provides information on how much of your 100 MB you’ve used.

Connecting to the iDisk from Windows

In the old days, you could only access your iDisk from a Macintosh. These days, you can bring your iDisk onto the screen of any computer, even one running Windows or Linux.

The procedure varies by operating system, but the general idea is the same: creating a new “network place” that uses the address http://idisk.mac.com/yourname, where yourname is your .Mac account name.

The easiest method in Windows XP is to download Apple’s iDisk Utility for (who would have guessed) Windows XP. You can find this download on the .Mac iDisk page (http://www.mac.com/1/idiskutility_download.html). Once installed, follow the onscreen instructions to access your iDisk.

In Windows 2000, Me, or XP, choose File → Open from within Internet Explorer. Turn on the “Open as Web Folder” checkbox, and then type your iDisk’s address (http://idisk.mac.com/yourname, where yourname is your .Mac account name). Enter your name and password when asked. ...