Tiger comes to the rescue! In Tiger, iSync is broken into two somewhat confusing pieces.

1. .Mac Sync - This is found in your .Mac System Preference pane and is used for synching to .Mac between Mac’s only
2. iSync - In /Applications you’ll still find iSync, used to sync your Mac to your devices, such as your iPod and P900 phone.

When you add your phone, iSync will download some code to the phone to handle the sync. This is much, much, much more reliable than the old method of using the Sony code. Thank you Apple, finally!

Note that the iSync menu no longer opens the iSync application, but rather the preference pane. I think Apple needs a third pass at this to integrate it again, but for now, sync your phone with the iSync application.

It really, really, really is fast.

Turns out that iSync will only sync the “Home” address to a Palm. So if you have a company, ignore the urge to enter their address using the work label and use the Home label instead.

If you are not a power user, if you don’t want to spend a lot of time scratching your head, don’t play with the iSync beta.

Today alone I have reset my devices 4 times, deleted 3 calendars to find out which one had bad data, reinstalled the Palm Desktop once and been confused numerous times when, after a sync, I do an immediate second sync and one item has been modified. Of course, there is no idea to know which item, nor why.

iSync looks like it will be a nice product whe it ships. But currently, with the known bugs (such as changing your event dates), I suggest it only for those of us willing to deal with headaches.

The user interface integration with Palm Desktop is spotty. There is no way a novice would figure this out. I applaud Apple for using Hot Sync, as it means I only need to sync my palm once, but the conduit should get its preferences from within the iSync user interface. A user should not have to go to two places to set things up.

If you do use iSync, send me your comments!

Go get yours at the iSync page. My biggest concern is the document that talks about recurring events not syncing properly.