iCloud, iOS 5 and Mac OS X 10.7.2

By now you’ve likely heard, Apple has released iOS 5 for mobile devices, OS X 10.7.2 for Macs, and iCloud. With the release of OS X 10.7.2, Lion appears to be ready for prime time. We have been testing iOS 5 and OS X 10.7.2 since its early beta release and we’re ready to pronounce them both “ready for primetime,” with some notable exceptions*.  While download and activation servers were under high load initially, they have settled down and you should not experience undue delays.

The upgrade to iOS 5 is free for all users of iOS, and works on the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S that is released on Friday will come with iOS 5.

The biggest feature we’ve been asked about is iCloud. iCloud is the successor to Apple’s MobileMe service.
iCloud works as a web between your iOS and Mac OS devices, to sync documents and photos, and if you’re not already using an ActiveSync account for Calendars and Contacts (like so many of our clients do with their Kerio accounts), it can work with those, as well.  In addition, it provides you with a secure backup service “in the cloud” at Apple, which means should your iPhone be stolen, provisioning a new iPhone is as simple as logging in with your Apple ID when you get your new phone.  Backups occur over WiFi only, and happen only when the iPhone or iPad is plugged in.

iCloud requires OS X 10.7.2 to work on your Mac, but works on your iOS 5 device without requiring OS X 10.7.2.
If you care currently using MobileMe to sync data from your Mac to iPhone and your Mac is still running MacOS 10.6 (aka Snow Leopard) you will want to hold off upgrading your iPhone to iOS 5 until after you upgrade your Mac to MacOS 10.7.2.
If you upgrade your iPhone to iOS 5 or purchase an iPhone 4S and sign into iCloud for syncing your MobileMe account is converted to an iCloud account.  If your Mac is not running MacOS 10.7.2 you will lose the ability to sync with your Mac (you will still be syncing to iCloud)

Apple has released some documentation about what that might mean for those still running OS X 10.6:

 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4929

The highlights: Without OS X 10.7.2, you will not be able to access any Calendars or Contacts associated with your iCloud ID on your 10.6.8 Mac. This won’t affect many of our clients who are already using Calendar & Contact syncing with Kerio accounts or Google accounts.

 The upgrade to Mac OS X 10.7 is a paid upgrade for those using OS X 10.6 and above, and volume licensing is available for Apple beginning at 20 users. We would be happy to help devise a migration path for your office or personal computers. 
* Current caveats include delegation of calendars for Kerio users (being fixed in Connect 7.3.0, a free maintenance release due in November) and any users of software that requires Rosetta under Snow Leopard (Office 2004, some versions of Adobe CS products, and other programs. Check http://www.roaringapps.com for any applications that are fairly old.)