Syncing iCloud data with Snow Leopard...

[roguegeek]

I'm a current MobileMe member who would like to move over to iCloud to take advantage of the features it has to offer. My iOS devices will work fine with it, but my workstation at the office and at home will not be getting upgrades past Snow Leopard. I want to make sure that I can find alternate ways to be able to use my mac.com email and keep my contacts, calendars, and bookmarks synced with all of my devices.

E-mail: This should be an easy one. I'm sure I can just use standard IMAP to connect to it in the Mail app.

Contacts: Need help with this. Will I be able to connect to iCloud contacts using CardDAV, Exchange, or any other supported protocol in Address Book? Is there an alternate way to do this?

Calendars: Same issue as contacts. Will I be able to connect to iCloud calendars using any other supported protocol in iCal?

Bookmarks: I currently use Firefox on my workstations and keep my bookmarks in order using Xmarks which syncs to Safari which, in turn, syncs to iOS Safari. Is there a better way to do this?

Any alternate ways to do any of this? All feedback is very much welcomed. Thanks for your time and help.

 

[vitzr]

As I understand it, iCloud is proprietary to iOS 5, and OS X 10.7.2, two operating systems I have no interest in at this point. My home network and work network are all centered on 10.6.5 and running fast, smooth and completely trouble free. I have too many reasons to stay away from iCloud.

Dropbox and Google cloud services have been doing a great job for me. I've used them for a few years now, and never had an issue. Simply amazing.

Also since I work in Windows and OS X, iCloud will not accomodate my ThinkPads or Android phones easily. Perhaps in time Apple will see fit to expand the compatibility of iCloud to grow their cloud, but for now, there is no way I am sacrificing the reliability, speed and ease of use I currently enjoy with my computers and phones.

I can be anywhere, using any of my laptops or phones, and have immediate access to all my data. That's what counts for me.

 

[roguegeek]

Dropbox and Google cloud services have been doing a great job for me. I've used them for a few years now, and never had an issue. Simply amazing.

Totally understand and respect your perspective, but I'm looking for answer to how I can integrate iCloud and not replace it with something else. Is there any feedback towards that?

 

[Monsoonmalabard]

How to sync iCloud Calendars with Snow Leopard

There's a very useful guide on this here.

Not sure about contacts or email, though. Syncing contacts should be possible in theory.