notMac released, notReady for first-time Mac users.

The notMac challenge to create a free replacement to .Mac has concluded with Ben Spink claiming the $8622 prize. notMac, now available for download, is a free replacement for Apple's expensive .Mac solution that provides. notMac similar functionality and is easy enough for a first-time Mac user to install and integrate.

While notMac sounds great on paper, in reality it isn't even close to being as simple as .Mac. In fact, to use notMac you'll need to have your own server running OS X (or OS X server) and have a pretty robust understanding of networking and IP configuration. If that sounds OK then installing notMac should proceed smoothly.

On the client side you're also going to need to install the client version of notMac and point it to the IP address of the notMac server. Installation effectively replaces your .Mac preference pane with the new notMac preference pane which is where you configure your notMac settings. Once you've completed these steps you should be able to use your own notMac server for iDisk access. If you're installation goes off the rails, you can always uninstall with the provided uninstaller script.

As you can see while notMac is a step in the right direction its far from being easy and seamless in the way that Mac users expect. For instance, there is NO WAY my mum would ever use it, and she uses .Mac everyday. Sadly, it also doesn't duplicate a lot of useful .Mac functionality like webmail and contact syncing among others. It's also worth noting that .Mac users gets Backup, Apple's backup client that is still the easiest way to backup your Mac and one of the main selling points for .Mac.

While competitions like this prove that the Apple developer community is vibrant, creative and innovative, it also demonstrates that serious R&D dollars are required to implement a service like .Mac and make it succeed. While notMac is a good first attempt, it's not ready for prime time, and certainly not ready for a 'first-time' Mac user.