.mac

About .mac

.Mac (pronounced and sometimes written as "Dot Mac") was a collection of online services and software offered by Apple Inc. Originally and collectively provided as a free service called iTools (and at the time offered exclusively to Mac OS users), .Mac became a subscription-based service with features applicable to users of all current, major computer platforms. It will be replaced by MobileMe in July 2008. Dot Mac was removed from service at approximately 9:10 pm Pacific Time on July 9, 2008.

The original Internet software and services today known as .Mac were first called "iTools"; it had no relation to Tenon's Web application with the same name. Announced and released at Macworld Expo San Francisco on January 5, 2000, iTools was made available free of charge for Mac OS 8 and 9 users. While some features of iTools were accessible via non-Mac platforms (such as modifying HomePage content with Internet Explorer on a Microsoft Windows-based PC, or accessing an iDisk via WebDAV in later iterations), iTools was primarily a Mac-only offering and provided only limited, discussion board-based technical support.

As costs rose (most particularly due to iDisk storage space; the wide demand for e-mail accounts ending in "@mac.com"; and increasing support needs), iTools was relaunched as a subscription-based suite of services with a dedicated technical support team and was renamed as ".Mac" at Macworld Expo New York on July 17, 2002. The new .Mac initially offered several new or upgraded tools to subscribers: