Mac OS® X Snow Leopard™ Bible

Chapter 11. Collaborating and Communicating

IN THIS CHAPTER

Preparing Mail accounts and preferences

Migrating e-mail accounts into Mail

Accessing mail on the road

Handling e-mail accounts and folders

Writing, sending, and reading e-mail messages

Accessing RSS feeds from Mail

Accessing notes and to-do items in Mail

Setting up iChat

Engaging in text, audio, video, and screen-sharing chat sessions

Setting up and using Address Book

Setting up and using iCal

Coordinating invitations and group calendars in iCal

Just as accessing the Web is a major use of the Mac, and a reason that Apple has put so much care into its Web applications such Safari and Web-based technologies such as iTunes and MobileMe, communicating with other people is a key reason people use a Mac — and again a key area that Apple has focused its applications on.

Communication is a fundamental human activity. People love to talk to each other. All sorts of new technologies have changed how we communicate — e-mail, online chat boards, instant messaging, feeds like Twitter, social network sites like Facebook, and so on — but what's constant is that we are still talking to each other, just over greater distances than ever before possible.

Collaboration — working together — is what enables people to do so many great things, bringing together skills, intuition, and physical labor, along with the energy created by coming together. You can't collaborate if you can't communicate, so the Mac's communication capabilities are key. Other capabilities, ...