Syncing iCal and Contacts in SL without MobileMe

[class77]

I know this is dumb, but I've never spent a day in the Apple environment without Mobile Me and I'm going to transfer to have to transfer to iCloud without being able to have it on my main iMac computer. I'll have it on my Mini(which is really a home theatre hub), my iPhone and iPad, but not the iMac. My SL iMac is the machine that both my IOS sync to.

How do I transfer iCal & Address Book information from the iCloud synced machines to this old machine? I truly have no idea. I know this is stupid, but I've never had to do it thru iTunes

Also, can you keep a backup copy of on both a local machine and on iCloud at the same time? I understand you can't use them at the same time, but I was curious if you could keep a local backup in iTunes(on a random basis) and keep another on iCloud renewing constantly

 

[satcomer]

First DON'T open Mail when changing to iCloud. Use System Preferences->iCloud pane & System Preferences->Mail, Contacts & Calendars and setup iCloud throughout that. Once this is all set Then open Mail and the iCloud account will be set for you.

If you follow this steps it will make your transition almost seemless to iCloud.

 

[class77]

Satcomer, I was asking about how to sync my Snow Leopard contacts and calendars on my iMac(only non-Cloud compliant machine) to sync with the rest of iCloud information. I don't really care about the imap.mail.me.com portion of the information, just Calendar and Contacts. Since I'm still running Snow Leopard, there is no iCloud system pane to open, just the old Mobile Me pane. All the other iCloud migration both on my Mini and my IOSs has gone smoothly.

I've never had to think about this since I've always had Mobile Me and I have no idea how to transfer the latest calendar and contact changes without it. I know that I can access iCloud from this computer. Can I download them from there some way?

I swear I'm not as dumb as this post sounds, I'm just having a little trouble wrapping my head around the changes.

 

[BrianBaughn]

You didn't specify which iMac model you have.

If you have one that can run Lion you will have to upgrade to Lion to sync with your iCloud calendars and contacts. This upgrade has other caveats that need to be heeded, though.

If your iMac cannot run Lion you can't sync directly with iCloud contacts and calendar.

The simplicity of iCloud is really nice. Personally I use Gmail "Google Apps" hosted email, contacts and calendars with my own domains and wouldn't dream of using an @me account (although I have one for testing purposes).

Wrapping your head around the changes means realizing that Apple has abandoned some of the MobileMe services you were getting and has cut off just about all of the services to those with older computers.

Don't forget: if you have anything on your iDisk it will be gone in a few days.

 

[class77]

Brian, thanks for your reply. The specs of my iMac are described in my signature below along with what OSX it's running. Sorry, I didn't think it was necessary to restate them again. I am capable of running Mountain Lion, but it would cause some of my other software to be unable to run.

I've just successfully figured out how to sync iCal with iCloud running Snow Leopard, so it looks like there are ways around having to upgrade to Lion/Mountain Lion. I was hoping that somebody out there might have another short cut to syncing Contacts, similar to the iCal solution. If I can just have those 2 things syncing, I'm fine without an update. I didn't use some of the other MobileMe features anyway.

Thanks for your suggestions

 

[BrianBaughn]

Yeah, I missed your signature down there.

I guess you have reasons to stay in SL...PPC software?

I have doubts that the iCloud calendar workaround that people are using in SL will hold up, but that's just a hunch, really. Apple can do anything they want with those servers.

 

[OverSpun]

Ah...

I thought this thread was really about older macs that LITERALLY can't use iCloud since I have an early '06 mac mini thats just a little media center and with little perks, but...

I guess there goes the end of syncing with my mini now.

OP- Just dang upgrade your machine to Mountain Lion, next month. I'll be upgrading my lion -> mtn (on my i7 MBP).

 

[class77]

Yeah, I missed your signature down there.

I guess you have reasons to stay in SL...PPC software?

I have doubts that the iCloud calendar workaround that people are using in SL will hold up, but that's just a hunch, really. Apple can do anything they want with those servers.

For the moment, the workaround is working well. If it stops working, I'll deal with it then I wouldn't upgrade this system until Mountain Lion anyway, so I have a bit of time.