MobileMe to iCloud: You Have 5 Days!

If you have been putting off the move from MobileMe to iCloud, now is the time to make the move.

The most common reason for delay is procrastination, followed in quick succession by "having a Mac that does not yet, or can't, run OS X 10.7 (Lion).

If you've simply been procrastinating, now's the time to make the move. I can't do much more for you than point you to the Apple page to get you started.

Now is also the time to download your Gallery photos and any iWeb pages that may still be lingering on MobileMe.

And, don't forget your iDisk files! They all disappear when June becomes July. (See my previous post on DropBox and other free services for alternatives to iDisk that are actually better than iDisk ever was!)

If, on the other hand, you have a non-Lion compatible Mac, there's still hope. It's easy to keep your email@mac.com or email@me.com email. Here's what Apple has to say:

If you want to keep email working on your devices, go to me.com/move from your computer, choose the option to keep using your email after MobileMe ends, and follow the steps. If your devices meet system requirements, you'll also be able to access all of the iCloud features after June 30, 2012, but only on your compatible devices.

• Mail

Mail continues to work on devices that don’t meet iCloud requirements.

• Calendars

Calendars continue to sync with your devices until June 30, 2012. After MobileMe ends, if your devices are not running iOS 5 or OS X Lion, Calendars no longer sync (Calendar data still resides locally on your devices). Once your devices are updated to iOS 5 or OS X Lion, your Calendar data will be able to sync with iCloud.com, and you can access all of the iCloud features.

• Contacts

Contacts continue to sync with your devices until June 30, 2012. After MobileMe ends, if your devices are not running iOS 5 or OS X Lion, Contacts no longer sync with iCloud.com (Contacts data still resides locally on your devices). Once your devices are updated to iOS 5 or OS X Lion, your Contacts data will be able to sync with iCloud.com, and you can access all of the iCloud features.

Keeping your Calendars and Contacts synched up after June 30 will take a bit of finagling, and some third party software and services. If you need help, give me a call. I'm a good finagler.

Mac OS X Lion and Signing PDFs

Now here's an awesome, but frequently overlooked feature that's built right in to the Macintosh operating system: you can sign PDFs with your actual signature! Did you know that?

How many times have you printed out the PDF, signed it, scanned it, shredded it and then emailed the scan back to the sender? No more. Here's how:

1. Sign your name as you would like it to appear in the document on a plain white piece of paper.
2. Open your PDF with Preview.
3. If you don't see the "Annotations Toolbar, use the menu View > Show Annotations Toolbar (or just type Command-Shift-A)
4. Look for the Signatures pop-up in the Annotation menu that now runs across the top of the document window.
5. Click on that, and choose "Create Signature from Built-in iSight…"
6. Line up the signature with the line in the Signature Capture preview window, and click "Accept."
7. Now, click where in the document you would like your signature to appear.

You can move the signature around, and even resize it. (Unlike resizing many other objects, you don't even need to hold Shift Key down as you resize it so your signature doesn't get all distorted.)

When you're happy, just hit the Enter key, and save the document!

You can store several versions of your signature in Preview, and in the future just choose the one you want to use from the pop-up menu.

How cool is that?

There are many other somewhat hidden features in Mac Lion that can make your life a lot easier. I'll post some here on a regular basis. If you can't wait, perhaps you would like a Lion Lesson or some basic Mac OS coaching. I'm here for you!