Are .Mac and Watson worth it?

[Mason]

I just switched and am considering whether or not to purchase .Mac and Watson. I've read the Watson is better than Sherlock but that Sherlock is likely to be expanded when Panther finally comes out. (Any idea when Panther might come out, by the way?)

I'm also considering .Mac but I don't like the idea of having to spend $99 each year for my virus protection. Are the other features that come with it worth it? And how does Virex compare against other virus protection software?

I'm sorry if this seems like a lot of questions, but I'm still relatively new to Macs. I appreciate any and all info and advice anyone might wish to share.

Thanks.

 

[Powerbook G5]

Well, virus software is basically not even needed with the Mac, so that aspect of it is just an extra more than the reason for .Mac. You get iDisk for Mac or PC file syncing wherever you go, full syncing with other computers on your network, bookmark syncing for both Mac and PCs wherever you go, webspace, your own email account, backup, iCards, address book, promotional offers, etc. You can check it out here for more info. You can subscribe for a free trial just to test it out and see if you like it, too. Hope that helps you.

 

[applefan]

Well, virus software is basically not even needed with the Mac, so that aspect of it is just an extra more than the reason for .Mac. You get iDisk for Mac or PC file syncing wherever you go, full syncing with other computers on your network, bookmark syncing for both Mac and PCs wherever you go, webspace, your own email account, backup, iCards, address book, promotional offers, etc. You can check it out here for more info. You can subscribe for a free trial just to test it out and see if you like it, too. Hope that helps you.

All this and, important to me, the ability to easily construct a good looking personal web site. All for less than the cost of a latte per week.

As for Watson, definitely better than Sherlock, but still doesn't justify the additional $30 IMO, but if it's useful to you then it might.