I’ll have my account of the MobileMe to iCloud transition in a second, but I first wanted to mention an amendment to last week’s iCloud article. I included only a partial explanation of what happens to .me/.mac email addresses if you don’t switch, and I realized after a few of you pointed it out that it definitely read incorrectly!
To clarify for current MobileMe email users: Your .me/.mac email address WILL still exist, even if you don’t switch to Lion and upgrade to iCloud.
Apple states:
“You can choose to keep using your mail after MobileMe ends, even on devices that don’t meet the iCloud system requirements. Just go to me.com/move and select the option to keep using your email after MobileMe ends. Once you have completed this short process, your mail will continue to work on devices that don’t meet the iCloud requirements after MobileMe ends on June 30th, 2012.”
Hope that helps all of you who have asked email-related questions, and I apologize for the confusion! Now, onward…
About two weeks ago, I made the transition from MobileMe to iCloud. I had waited a while since the switch was announced, primarily because of my two machines (work and home), only one was running OS 10.7, Lion. The one running Snow Leopard was my work machine, and definitely the one I spend most of my time using.
Like many of you, I was concerned about my iDisk, iWeb files and making sure that my contacts were all migrated correctly. However, I wanted to make sure that I started the switch in plenty of time before June 30th, so if anything went wrong or I had questions, I’d have enough time to address them (the same can’t be said for many other things in life, alas…).
Before I started, I made sure that a) both of my computers were running at least 10.7.2, and b) that I had iOS 5 on my iPhone. Then, it was Go Time: I went to Mobileme.com/move to start ‘er up.
I found that the migration wizard was very straightforward—it was basically a series of web pages that look like this. Note that there are services that Apple is waiting until the 30th to eliminate—Gallery, iDisk and iWeb—but also that there are services that immediately cease to sync, such as Dashboard widgets, Keychains, Mail settings and rules.
One of the most helpful instructions I found is the reminder to back up your contacts, calendars and bookmarks before moving. To do this, go to each app and select File > Export to save the file. (Hopefully, you won’t need it, but it’s great to have!)
Once you’ve continued through the screens to set up your iCloud account, you’ll see this page. At this point, you’re done with the computer portion of the setup, and each device that is running iOS 5 will have a handy little popup on it indicating that once clicked, the iCloud transition will be complete.
I had no issues with my upgrade, but I’m still plotting what to do with my website created with (and hosted by) iWeb services. I’ll keep you posted and continue to address your specific questions.
Again, here’s a helpful link to the MobileMe/iCloud FAQ:
Apple.com/mobileme/transition.html