As you probably know, unless you’ve just clambered out from under a huge rock, .Mac is soon going to be rebranded as MobileMe and receive an overhaul of massive proportions. As part of this upgrade, Apple has already made ‘@me.com’ addresses available to all .Mac members and removed web access to bookmarks, without hampering any functionality (except web access to bookmarks, duh).
However, in order to make the ultimate leap from caterpillar to butterfly, Apple will have to take the entire service down into its virtual cocoon and do their coding ninja thing. They have announced that they will flip the switch (it’s this big honkin’ lever in Jobs’s secret underground lair, from what we are told) on July 9th 2008, i.e. tomorrow.
Thankfully, your .Mac email will function as smoothly as ever—as long as you access it from a desktop client, iPhone or iPod touch—but the whole of mac.com will be unaccessible for the entire duration of the upgrade. Apple does not mention any specific date for its resurfacing as MobileMe, but I think July 11th seems like a pretty good bet. Despite the fact that the original press release said MobileMe would be available on July 11th, the message on the site says that MobileMe will be available “as soon as possible” (thanks, Josh).
So, ladies and gentlemen, prepare to bid your final goodbye to .Mac—MobileMe is the (soon-to-be) new kid on the block!
They mention a date that MobileMe will be available right in your screenshot, although the time isn't entirely specific. The last paragraph states that “MobileMe will be available as soon as possible during [the 6pm-midnight PT tomorrow] maintenance window.”
Web access to bookmarks has not been turned off. I was using it earlier today to facilitate syncing with my PC at work.
on the .mac page (for registered users);
MobileMe Launch
7/9/2008, 6pm-12am PT
As part of the MobileMe launch, www.mac.com will be taken offline at 6pm PT on Wednesday, July 9th
so it looks like by midnight, it should be running.